Ghent
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This page is about the Belgian city. For other places called Ghent see Ghent (disambiguation).
Ghent (Gent in Dutch, Gand in French) is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of East Flanders, of which it is the capital. The city centre lies at the confluence of rivers Scheldt and Lys. It is situated at the crossing of the European routes E17 and E40.
The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the towns of Afsnee, Desteldonk, Drongen, Gentbrugge, Ledeberg, Mariakerke, Mendonk, Oostakker, Sint-Amandsberg, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Sint-Kruis-Winkel, Wondelgem and Zwijnaarde. On January 1st, 2001 Ghent had a total population of 225.956. The total area is 157.69 km² which gives a population density of 1421.65 inhabitants per km². In terms of population it is Belgium's fourth largest municipality.
History The region of Ghent was inhabited in Celtic times. The name Ghent comes from the Celtic word 'ganda' which means converging of e.g. two rivers (Scheldt and Lys). There are no written records of the Roman period but archeological research confirms that the region of Ghent was further inhabited.
When the Franks invaded the Roman territories (from the end of the 4th century and well into the 5th century) they brought their language with them and Ghent became a region where Celtic and Latin were replaced by (ancient) Dutch.
From the 7th century on, Ghent had two important abbeys Sint Pieters (625-650) and Sint Baafs (650). The city grew from several nuclei, the abbeys and a commercial centre. Around 800, the city must have been important enough for louis the pious, son of Charlemagne, to appoint Einhard as abbot of both abbeys. Einhard was the biographer of Charlemagne, Charles the Great.
The rivers flowed in an area where a lot of land was periodically inundated. These 'meersen' (a word related to the English 'marsh', but not meaning excatly the same, a 'meers' is not permanently under water.) These grounds were ideally suited for herding sheep. Sheep means wool. Ghent was during the middle ages the most important city for cloth. Outside Italy, Ghent was until the 13th century the biggest city after Paris. Within the city walls lived up to 60.000 or 65.000 people. It was e.g. bigger than London, Koeln (Cologne) or Moscow. Today, the center of the city still has several large towers, the belfry, Saint Nicholas and Saint Baafs churches are just a few examples of what is called the 'Manhattan of the Middle Ages'.
Ghent was a city where the wool-industry was so important that wool had to be imported from England. Flanders was that important to England that the English kings they more than once wedded their daughters to a count of Flanders. Flanders and England were many times allies against France.
Tourism Ghent is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Much of the city's medieval architecture remains intact and is remarkably well preserved. Interesting highlights are the Sint-Baafs cathedral with the Ghent Altarpiece, the belfry, the gravensteen, and the Graslei. The city is host to some big cultural events such as the Gentse Feesten, I Love Techno, Flanders International Film Festival Ghent and Festival van Vlaanderen. Night bus services (weekends only) are free of charge.
The city has an extensive harbour which is accessed by the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, which ends at Terneuzen in the Westerschelde.
Ghent was the birthplace of Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V. It was also the site of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which formally ended the War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States of America.
See also: Bruges
External links
- Official website - Information available in Dutch, English, French and German