With a skyline dominated by three Gothic towers, the Belgian city of Ghent is a beautiful place dating back to the year 630. The medieval heritage is well preserved in the buildings and most of the places of interest are within a 3-km radius.
Tot ziens!
From left to right: St. Bavo, the Belfry, St. Nickolas
This morning we started at St. Bavo's Cathedral. The site was originally occupied by a chapel that was consecrated in the year 942. A Romanesque church was later built and traces of it can be seen in the crypt. As an abbey and church, it was mostly built from the 14th to 16th century. Once it was granted cathedral status the interior was decorated in baroque fashion after the influence of Ghent Bishop, Antonius Triest. Today the building is a fantastic example of soaring Gothic architecture.
The cathedral houses an astonishing collection of religious art, including a painting by notable Flemish Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens and his master, Otto Venius. The crown jewel of the collection is the enormous altarpice by brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck. The large altar cross and candle sticks were a gift from Napoleon after he visited Ghent in 1803.
The crypts had remnants of original frescoes and examples of the fine robes and regalia of past bishops.
Despite numerous signs that said no photography, there were plenty of people snapping shots of the cathedral interior with their phones and small cameras. I tried to exercise restraint as much as possible but you'll see in tomorrow's post that I caved eventually. Even the cathedral volunteers didn't seem interested in policing their own no-photo policy.
However, if you would like to view the restoration project's excellent high-resolution images of the altarpiece, click on this link here.
The famous belfry (no it doesn't really lean like that)
By the Late Middle Ages, Ghent was one of the largest and most important cities in Europe. It was second to only Paris in size! The belfry was constructed between 1313 and 1380. At 91 meters tall it has played important roles throughout the city's history.
In the above left photo is one of the many iterations of the spire's weather vane figure, a dragon. The mystical dragon has long been a symbolic guardian of the city and its privileges as a European power center. The dragon that adorned the tower during WWII has numerous bullet holes from when the belfry was used as a observation tower by the occupying German forces.
As for the bells themselves, they are played by a carillon of the automatic kind (which resembles a music box mechanism). Before modern machinery was available, the carillon was controlled manually with a sort of keyboard where hammers were attached to belts (or the clappers were pulled by belts). Carillons were widespread in 16th century Flemish cities but Ghent has used one since the 14th century. The technique was "discovered" by the US, Japan, Korea, and Australia after WWI.
The above right picture shows some of the older bells that were tuned by famous bell founder Pieter Hemony. There is a very long and controversial story involving the Hemony brothers and Ghent but it is too convoluted to report here so get on the Google and look it up if you so choose.
Here is where I should mention that despite being stupendously old the bell tower actually has an elevator between some of the levels. Because there were several school groups running around Hans and I actually found it easier and less stressful to climb the old stairs (all 366 of them except for one level where it was more advantageous to use the lift in order to avoid a group of rowdy teenage boys.
At 11 am the carillon sprung into action and we watched the drum turn as the bells played a song. Every two years around Easter a new song is "programmed" on the drum.
Below the clock face is an observation level. It provided really amazing views of the city in all directions but I hated it. The height. It has been a long time since I've been on a building like that where there isn't a screen to protect people from their own stupidity but the lack of extra protection freaked me out. I don't like heights. Beautiful views, though.
The drum is one of the largest and oldest in the world. It was cast by Pieter Hemony in 1659!
St. Bavo is only 89 meters tall.
Looking east toward Romanesque St. James Church, one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Looking north at the back of St. Nicholas.
Going down by way of the back stairs.
Stone Watchers: The one in the foreground is original. Their human counterparts kept watch over the city and sounded the large alarm bell during times of danger.
We tried to pay another visit to St. Michael's but it was closed until the afternoon.
We had lunch at a trendy spot called Soup'r. Guess what they specialize in? Their chicken curry soup was super warming after a chilly morning out and about. The staff very patiently explained their entire menu to us in English but they may not have been so generous if it weren't for the fact that we showed up right as they opened and before the main lunch rush.
Feeling more sustained, it was time to check out Gravensteen! I hate to be so blasé but it really is just another castle in another old city in Europe. During the 12th century crusader Philip of Alsace (the Count of Flanders) was pals with English King Henry II and the French Crown Prince. The Count built the castle on the site of a pre-existing wooden castle and was a fairly effective governor. In later years the castle was used as a prison and courthouse, with some unsavory use of torture instruments. It underwent considerable restoration in the 1800s after being abandoned as a factory.
Thumbscrews, some of the less awful items on display.
There was a small collection of fine weaponry.
Throughout the afternoon we wandered the rest of the historic center. Along the river are several old guildhouses, one of which leans VERY precariously out over the street.
For dinner we kind of ran out of ideas. I found a pub with an extensive beer list but we only stuck around for one round (the service was spotty). We weren't especially hungry for dinner so we just ate a gratuitous amount of frites. Proost!
Tot ziens!
