Ghent-trified

Before going, I knew two things about Ghent. One, it was the last name of Drew Barrymore’s evil step-mother in Ever After—Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent. Two, it was in Belgium. This last point actually came as a surprise to me because after watching Ever After a million times when I was twelve, I was under the impression Ghent was in France (the rest of the movie was set in France, it made sense). In any case, people had been telling me for weeks that I needed to go. “Don’t leave Belgium without having seen Ghent.” Well, I saw it.

And it’s a good thing too, because it was by far the best place I’ve been in this country (that beats Antwerp and Bruges). There are three things that really put it over the top. The first is the architecture, most impressively embodied in three famous landmarks: St. Bravo’s Cathedral, St. Nicholas' Church and the Belfry.

St. Bravo's Cathedral

St. Bravo’s is my favourite. It was the first I visited and easily spoiled me for the rest. First of all, it’s absolutely gorgeous. I know I’ve gone on about churches on here before, but this one is by far the best. It was built in different time periods ranging from 1300 to 1560. The church is also home to a local celebrity: the Ghent Altarpiece, also known as Van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painting. Ironically, the painting isn’t even on the altar. It actually has a whole room (a small chapel, technically) devoted to it and its admirers. A good thing too because it’s massive: 3 meters by 7 meters when spread out. Spread out because it a 12 paneled painting, what they call a polyptych.


I wasn't interested in the Adoration as I’d never heard of it (Flemish painters aren’t my strong suit), and so I resented the €3 euros I had to pay to see it. But it was worth it because admission came with an audio guide that explained--in precise detail--the intricacies of the painting, in terms of style and symbolism. It was phenomenal! I must have stayed there for over an hour examining different parts of it. And then, when I thought I was done, I realized there was an entire back side!

Eventually, I had to stop and explore the rest of the church. It was so elaborate and full of small chapels, marble statues and intricate wrought iron gates. Sadly, I couldn’t take any pictures but I risked this shaky snapshot of the pulpit just to give you an indication of the grandness we’re dealing with.


All in all, I think I was there for about an hour and a half.


Afterward I climbed to the top of the Belfry, a giant tower across from St. Bravos’. On my up I found myself in the mechanized bell room as said bells were ringing which was fun. Like the Dom in Cologne, the views were pretty spectacular.

The Belfry from across the square

Views from the Belfry

Tunnels in the Belfry basement dug by the Nazis so they could escape from Allies

The next tower was St. Nicholas’. Nowhere near as cool as St. Bravo’s, but still respectable. An interesting thing about St. Nicholas’ is that the tower isn't above the entrance but pushed back to the main church.

St. Nicholas' as viewed from atop the Belfry

After checking out the main towers, I took a lovely stroll past Ghent’s other gem: its waterways. There are canals similar to Bruges and Amsterdam that offer great views of the architecture. One of the best was from St. Michael's bridge, from where I took this picture where you can see all through buildings.


From there I checked out the Castle of the Counts (yep, there’s a castle; two in fact), but couldn’t go inside because it was too late (they stop admitting people an hour before close).

So I just walked along the rivers and recorded the following scenes.


I also stumbled into Patershol an area the guidebooks described as a village within a village and it really felt like that with tiny pedestrian streets and little shops.

At this point, I had seen a good deal of the city but I stumbled on something while looking at the extensive and detailed guidebook the tourist office had provided me with. One of the "tips” they had mentioned was a graffiti street, Werregarenstraatje. I was sold. I don’t know why, but I think graffiti is really beautiful, so I set out to find it. And it was quite a challenge. But when I found it—another tiny pedestrian street linking two main ones together—it was so worth it.



Also in the guide book was a list of Top Ten Sights in Ghent. I did most of them (7 out of 10 isn’t so bad, the others were in a different area). One of them was Ghent’s people (the third jewel of Ghent). And I can attest to their “spirit and glibness of tongue.” A good example came as I was souvenir shopping. I returned to this one store after perusing a few others on the same street and finding it was cheaper and had a better selection. As I walked in, the owner bellowed, “Ah, so you’re back? Didn’t I tell you we were the best and cheapest in the city?” He hadn’t. “They always come back,” he said, arranging merchandise. “I could tell you we’re the best in the city,” he said now almost to himself. “But no one would believe me. You have to find that on your own.” I found it really funny.

But the best example of the generosity of Ghent citizens came after my arrival. I hoped a tram that I hoped was headed for downtown. I asked an older woman beside me to make sure. She confirmed I was going the right way. But she didn’t leave it at that. Instead, at the stop I needed, she hoped off the tram with me, grabbed my hand and started explaining in French various tourist destinations I had to see while I was there (St. Bravos and St. Nicholas were high on the list). She took me to City Hall, past a church, pointed to a tourist office and told me which direction to start walking, left me at an intersection with a friendly smile and a wave and went on her way. She was quite a bit older, so I knew I could take her if it came down to it, but it struck me later what an odd experience it was.

In any case, she was right about a lot of the sites she pointed out. Here are some of her suggestions:

Mason's Guild Hall
Town Hall
The "Marriage" part of City Hall where people walk out of when they marry.
I walked in through a throng of people thinking it was a church. It was not.