Belgium · 28. Januar 2018

Ghent in Flanders

Ghent is the second-largest city in the whole of Belgium (second after Antwerp) and capital of the province of East Flanders. Ghent is situated between Antwerp and Bruges.

As was the case with Bruges, Ghent became an important part of the European cloth trade which made the city extremely rich. Also, Ghent was successful in trading linen and corn. Towards the end of the 18th century Ghent became one of the first European cities to be industrialised.

Ghent is the city where German Emperor Karl V was born.

Today Ghent is a modern city with a historic city centre which has been preserved throughout the centuries; meaning, Ghent come across as a medieval city which 20th inhabitants. The City of Ghent has its own flair and also has a lot to show to the visitor.

Ghent has about 595,000 inhabitants. In the historic city centre streets are small and narrow in a densely built-up area. Today, Ghent counts 25 neighbourhoods.

Late in January 2018 we made an impromptu visit to the Belgium city of Gent. Unfortunately, the weather was not as could have been hoped for. We had a very cloudy day and only a bit of blue sky inbetween. Anyway when you are somewhere to walk about and see for yourself what the place has on offer. As for Gent, there is plenty to see.

We went there on a Sunday afternoon and because of the really cold weather there were not much people walking around, though the pubs and coffeehouses enjoyed plenty of guests.

As we had not too much time we only spent there under two hours. A selection of the images we made are shown below.

The image on the left was made while standing on the grand market place and you are looking at the old town hall with its Belfried (tower). It is said the city wanted to show how rich they are and wanted to exceed the hight of the Brugge Belfried which, quite obviously, was a success.

Interesting Sights in Ghent

The top sights in Ghent are listed below:

The entire Ghent city centre
Castle Gravensteen which is a prominent building in the centre
The quays Graslei and Korenlei (sitting both on opposite banks of the river Lei)
Saint Bravo Cathedral (Sint Baafskathedraal)
Saint-Michaels-Bridge
The Belfrie of Ghent with the Cloth Hall (=Belfort en Lakenhalle)
The Korenmarket
The Museum of Fine Arts
The Saint Nicholas Church
The Patershol

These are the sights that firstly spring to mind and catch your eye when in Ghent. However, for the photographer there is much more to see. There are lots of small things alongside the street, the style of the old houses, ornaments, and lots more. Take your time and a walk-about through Ghent will take ages.