Ghent (Gent)

Tourist Information and Travel Guide

LEFT: Ghent's Belfort (a.k.a. Belfry or Bell Tower) is open to visitors.

Ghent, Belgium is an ancient city. It dates back to 629 A.D., when St. Anand arrived to convert the local pagan population. The saint met with a cool reception--in fact, he was tossed into the River Sheldt by the natives--but it wasn't long until Christianity took hold, and the abbeys of St. Peter and St. Baaf formed the basis for a town known as Gent (Flemish) or Gand (French).

After being fortified in the 11th and 12th Centuries, Ghent developed into a major clothmaking center that was larger than Paris. Unfortunately, the Francophile aristocracy had a different agenda from that of the cloth weavers and merchants who relied on wool imported from England. One rebellion followed another, and the city had its financial and political ups and downs over the next few centuries.

Today, Ghent is a healthy city that honors the past without succumbing to the theme-park mentality that afflicts so many picturesque towns. On the one hand, it has a plethora of historic buildings and museums that serve an estimated 1,300,000 visitors each year. At the same time, it earns its daily bread with a major university, flower growing, textile mills, shipbuilding, a cargo port, and other 20th-Century economic activities.

On the next five pages, you'll find dozens of links to tourist sites, hotels, museums, shopping advice, entertainment listings, and other Web resources for visitors to Ghent. I'd also like to recommend two excellent guidebooks:

Cadogan: Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp
Antony Mason's 402-page guidebook devotes 23 pages to Ghent. Like all Cadogan guides, this book is aimed at the intelligent traveler and is both useful and fun to read.

Michelin Green Guide: Belgium and Luxembourg
The Green Guide offers nine pages of historical and sightseeing information on Ghent, with star ratings to help you decide what to see and what to skip. You won't find hotel or restaurant listings here, but the color maps are useful.

Web links for Ghent

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