Ghent Attractions

Ghent's historic inner city offers a superb collection of splendid buildings along picturesque canals, only superseded by Bruges. A walk through the town on a summer's evening, when the most important buildings are illuminated, is a particularly unforgettable experience. In high summer the canals, almost at a standstill, have their own distinctive aroma which permeates the city in the heat. However, this hardly mars the overall impression of this unique city.

As the historic Old Town is quite compact it can be taken in on one day and still include a detailed visit to the Sint-Baafskathedraal, the Gravensteen and the Museum of Ethnography. A visit to the Museum voor Schone Kunsten requires more time.

Cars should not be driven into the city center. There are parking lots at Vrijdagmarkt, at the University, at Kouter Square, at Sint-Pieterskerk and at Sint-Pieter station (tram to the city center).

From the Rabot there is a footpath along the Lieve back to Burgstraat. It passes the Lievekaai, a romantic spot with small gabled houses.

On the west side of the market is the long Groot Vleeshuis, a medieval covered meat market with a guild house, chapel and numerous gables in the roof. The building originated in 1406-1410 and was restored in 1912. At the south end of the Vleeshuis is the "Penshuizeken" (entrails cottage) where the poor were given the entrails of slaughtered animals.

The Sint-Michielsbrug crosses the Leie. From the bridge there is a wonderful view of Sint-Niklaas, the Belfry and Sint-Baafs together with the Korenlei and the Graslei with the Gravensteen in the background.

Animal market (pets, poultry) on the Oude Beestenmarkt.

Bird market on the François-Laurentplein.

A botanical garden with a permanent collection known as the "Honeybee."

To the west of the museum the Citadel Park is laid out on the site of the citadel commissioned by Wellington. With its ponds and flower beds it is popular with Ghent citizens for taking a walk.

Gewad street comes to the Prinsenhofplein with the Donkere Poort (Dark Tower), remains of the Prinsenhof palace, inhabited by the Counts of Flanders from 1353, birthplace of Charles V, in 1500.

Within the park is the Floraliapaleis (Feestpaleis), an exhibition and trade fair complex, which has now partly been replaced by the new trade fair 'Flanders Expo' in Sint-Denijs-Westrem.

Boats with sightseeing tours through local canals and rivers in the vicinity.

The Nederpolder ends at Bisdomplein. On the right on the bank of the Scheldt is the castle of the steward of the Flemish dukes, Geraard de Duivel. Over the centuries it has served many purposes - as a prison, a lunatic asylum and an arsenal - and it now houses the East Flemish State Archives.

At the western end of the Hoogpoort is the Groentenmarkt, originally a fish market and since the 18th C. a vegetable market. In the Middle Ages the pillory stood here. A mustard factory and shop are in one of the surrounding houses.

This region of Ghent includes attractions such as Het Pand and Sint-Michielskerk.

Along the Leie a group of buildings next to the church to the south in Onderbergen street are known as 'Het Pand'. This is a former 13th C. Dominican monastery and is one of the oldest buildings in Ghent. Today it is used by the university.

A permanent display of the "henceforth school."

The route along the Bartsoenkaai to the Bijlokemuseum to the south passes the Apotheekstraat. There is an interesting collection of original exhibits relating to school history.

A patrician maison that includes both historical and modern elements.

Horse-drawn carriages depart from Sint-Baafsplein from Easter to October.

Among the surrounding houses on Sint-Baafsplein No. 10 stands out, a very handsome patrician house of 1739 with a bust of the goddess Juno in the gable. It is the house of the Hamelinck family, who built the house on the site of the "Roosecransche" guest house which belonged to the van Branteghem family. It once housed the oldest theater in Ghent.

On the corner of Gewad/Burgstraat stands the "Huis der Gekroonde Hoofden" (House of the Crowned Heads) with a Renaissance facade of scrolled gables and portraits of the Counts of Flanders.

The house of the orators is in the Goudenleeuwplein No. 7 (1539) behind the church and is the oldest voluted building of its kind in Ghent with a Renaissance facade.

There is a memorial to the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck in the park.

Sint-Baafsplein opens out in front of the cathedral with the memorial to Jan Frans Willems (1793-1846), the founder of the Flemish movement on the south side.

The smaller Béguinage (Klein Begijnhof van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw ter Hoyen) in Violettenstraat in the southeast part of the city dates back to 1234, when it was founded by Johanna of Constantinople and her sister Maria. The present day site with its cottages around a large tree-lined lawn has remained unchanged since the 17th C.

At the south end of the Korenmarkt (corn market), surrounded by 16-18th C. buildings, the business center of old Ghent, the lane known as Klein Turkije branches off. The oldest house is "De rode Hoed" (red hat) from the 13th C., where Albrecht Dürer lived during his stay in the town in 1523. The "Huis der Kruideniers", the guild house of the grocers, is in the same street.

It is possible to tour the city by minibus or by taxi.

Museum Dr. Guislain features the history of psychiatric care.

The military hospital and barracks Lieven Bauwens with notable artwork including the Pacification of Ghent.

House No. 14 in the Gewad is the Museum voor Industriële Archeologie en Textiel (Museum of Industrial Archaeology and Textiles). As well as many tools and documents there is a Mule Jenny (spinning Jenny), one of the oldest still functioning spinning machines in the world that Lieven Bauwens introduced to Ghent at the beginning of the 19th C., thereby revitalizing the textile industry.

North of the Kouter in Korte Meer is the Museum Wetenschap en Techniek (Museum of Science and Technology), dedicated to the inventions and discoveries of scientists from Ghent and Flanders. Among these are Jan Palfijn, a famous Flemish surgeon, inventor of birth forceps and founder of anatomy and Leo Baekeland, the inventor of bakelite. There is an unrivaled collection of surgical instruments from all periods.

The museum is housed in the buildings of the university, founded by King Willem I in 1816.

An exhibition of the history of medical research and education of sanitary care and medical culture.

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouw ter Hoyen church which belongs to the béguinage was begun in 1658 and completed in 1720. It has a captivating Baroque doorway. In the interior are valuable paintings (de Crayer, van Cleef, polyptych by Horenbaut).

A 175 ha recreational park with a beach, playground and school for sailing, surfing and canoeing.

On the other side of the Clauslaan, which borders Citadel Park in the southeast, Ghent University maintains botanical gardens (Plantenuin) with an exceptional collection of exotic plants.

Opposite the church doorway the architects Cloquet and Mortier attempted to harmonize the Postgebouw, completed in 1903, with the neo-Gothic style of the neighboring historic gables.

Northwest of the Dark Tower is the Rabot, a lockhouse built in 1489 on the Lieve with stepped gables, flanked by two mighty round towers. On this spot the citizens of Ghent resisted the army of the German Emperor Friedrich III.

Sint-Baafsplein opens out in front of the cathedral with the Koninklijk Vlaams Theater (Royal Flemish Theater) on the north side.

The Schoolmuseum Michel Thiery is housed in the former sick room and reception hall of the abbey. Contrary to its name its emphasis is not on school, but on school science subjects and displays fossils, stuffed birds and geological collections as well as computer technology.

Rabotstraat leads to Burgstraat, past the ruins of the Sint-Elisabeth Béguinage (16th/17th C.). A monument to the poet Georges Rodenbach (1855-1898) stands next to Sint-Elisabeth church.

Directly opposite the town hall on the corner of Hoogpoort stands the former house of the Guild of Crossbowmen, Sint-Jorishof of 1477, where Maria of Burgundy granted greater freedom to the Flemish towns.

At the far end of the bridge stands the Sint-Michielskerk. Work started on it in 1440 and reached the tower by 1648.

The tower of the Sint-Niklaaskerk dominates the Korenmarkt, an excellent example of Scheldt Gothic. The first work began in the 13th C. and continued with interruptions until the 18th C. The Baroque west gateway to the Korenmarkt dates from 1681. The guilds of businessmen and the chamber of rhetoric 'De Fonteyne' had a chapel in the church.

Northeast of Citadel Park is Sint-Pietersplein with Sint-Pietrsabdij on its western side. It was probably founded in the seventh C. and dissolved under the government of the French Revolution.

Nowadays it is the Centrum voor Kunst en Kultur, which organizes regular art exhibitions.

De Warande Recreation Centre offers an outdoor sports and swimming center with an Olympic size pool, water slides and beach volleyball.