Turbulent Ghent

The throbbing, pounding Mill City of the Middle Ages, where tens of thousands of weavers periodically started bloody riots and wars against their rulers and always emerged to manufacture the heavy Flemish cloth worn in every ancient land of Europe.

Evolving from an abbey (St. Bavo) founded by St. Amand in the early 600s, Ghent developed into Europes' largest producer of wool cloth in the 1200s, growing to be the largest medieval city in Northern Europe after Paris, with a population of 60,000. It is also less famous among tourists than the often praised Bruges. However, for some people Ghent is the real diamond of Flanders and Belgium. In a unique way it has managed to preserve its medieval power while keeping up with the times.

The city center alone is a showcase of medieval Flemish wealth and commercial success. Modern Ghent certainly cannot be overlooked in Belgium. The city has an important harbor, thanks to the canal Ghent-Terneuzen which allows sea-going vessels to bring their products to the city and its industrial hinterland.

Ghent is also the flower city of Belgium. Flower growers from the region around it sell their beautiful Begonias and Azaleas all over the world. Every 5 years the successful 'Gentse Floraliën' ( Ghent Flower Show) attracts thousands to the city.

The tourist will not have eyes enough to admire the awesome architectural wealth, which offers a splendid combination of impressiveness and idyllic charm of the proud and (in former times) often rebellious city of Ghent..

The city hall dates back to the 1300s and has been added to in the 15th and 16th century. Therefore it has both Gothic and Renaissance architecture, the whole inspired by the Italian palazzos. It covers a complete square block of the city after the addition, in the 19th century, of a conciergerie and almonry. The façade is crowned by a triangular "fronton" surrounded by several dozens of decorative ornaments.	Ghent's oldest parish church dates from the 10th century, still sometimes named St. John's church as it was then. Throughout the centuries it was continuously enlarged and it was only in the 16th century that it was given its present name, St. Bavo Cathedral. It has a wealth of art treasures of which the altarpiece by Van Eyck is the most important. It is the "pearl" of the Flemish Primitives and the sense of reality is exceptional.	St. Nicholas church stands in the heart of the city, the oldest one in Ghent, dating back to1220 A.D.Built with blue-grey stone from the area around Tournai, it is completely different from the other older buildings in the city. The church was originally built in the 12th century but burned to the ground in 1176. It was not until the growing wealth of Ghent that the replacement was built.