Ghent - Gravensteen

The tour of the castle leaves from the gatehouse into a large courtyard surrounded by a circular wall with 24 half towers and a defense gallery which encircles the main castle. This is dominated by a massive keep or "Meestentoren", its platform being reached by a narrow spiral staircase. Outstanding views of the castle and town are to be had from here. The tour continues through the palace (living quarters of the lords of the castle), where instruments of torture and court documents are now displayed, through the Great Hall, where Philipp the Good gave a huge banquet for the knights of the Golden Fleece in 1445, then through the torture chamber, finishing with the hole down to the dungeons.

The superb Baroque building at Sint-Veerleplein No. 5 is the old fish market, built in 1689 according to plans by Artus Quellin. Following a fire in 1872 it was extended and connected to the new meat market in Rekelingestraat. The gateway depicts Neptune and allegorical representations of the Scheldt (male) and Leie (female).

In front of the castle extends the ancient Sint-Veerleplein, possibly the oldest square in Ghent, although the neighboring facades are of 17th C. origin at the earliest. This square was a market place but also the site of executions and burnings of the victims of the Inquisition.