Cities of Belgium / Grant Allen's Historical Guides

by Grant Allen

Go first on a tour of orientation through early Ghent. If you follow these directions implicitly, you can see everything important in one short walk. Cross the Place d’Armes diagonally to the N.E. corner, and follow the small and narrow streets which run due N. to the front of the Cathedral. Walk round the S. side of this, to form a first general impression, but do not enter it at present.

Then, from the West Front of the Cathedral, take the Rue St. Jean straight before you. The tower with the gilded dragon which faces you as you walk is that of the Belfry. It was designed in 1183, about a century earlier than that of Bruges, but only erected between 1321 and 1339; it is a fine work in the Early Gothic style. Its windows have been walled up. The tapering turret which crowns the tower is unfortunately modern, and of iron. On the very summit stands a huge gilded dragon, which universal tradition represents as having been brought from St. Sophia at Constantinople to Bruges by the Crusader Baldwin of Flanders, (1204), and removed as a trophy by the people of Ghent (under Philip van Artevelde) in 1382. It certainly appears to be of Oriental origin, but is stated on documentary evidence (discovered by M. Vuylsteke) to have been made in Ghent itself in 1380. If so, it would seem at least to be based on an Oriental model.

The small building at the foot of the Belfry, now in course of (over) restoration, is the Cloth Hall, erected in 1424, a graceful but not very important Gothic edifice (of the Decorated period), with niches vacant of their statues. The concierge of the Belfry now has a room in it. Application must be made here to mount to the summit. (1 franc, or 2 for a party.) Dark and steep.

The view is extensive and beautiful, but not quite so striking as that at Bruges. The principal buildings of the city lie just below you: beyond, all Flanders. The chimes are celebrated. The chief bell is known as Roelandt.

Now turn round into the Botermarkt or Marché au Beurre to the right, and inspect the Belfry again from the little bay in the corner opposite. This is the best near view of the tower. The portal to the R. was formerly the entry to the town prison, beneath the Belfry, now in course of complete restoration. In its gable is a too-famous 18th century relief (the Mammelokker) representing the Roman daughter feeding her father from her breast at the window of a prison, and doubtless intended to excite the charity of passers-by. It certainly serves no other function, for it is neither beautiful nor decorative.

Cross over to the R. side of the Butter-market. The building on the L., in two totally distinct portions, is the Hôtel-de-Ville. The part at which you first arrive, (latest in point of time,) was rebuilt in the early Renaissance style in 1595-1628. It is one of the earliest and in many ways the best example of Renaissance architecture in Belgium, in part because it retains certain good features of local domestic building, such as the pointed gable-ends (round the corner to the L.) and the projecting windows with dormers on the main façade. (Look out for their origin elsewhere.) It has three storeys, with projecting half colonnades, the columns being Doric on the ground floor, Ionic on the first floor, and Corinthian on the second. Recollect the gable-ends and dormers for comparison with others in old houses in Ghent hereafter.

Now, continue on to the corner, where we arrive at the earlier Gothic portion of the Hôtel-de-Ville, erected in 1518-1535 by Dominic de Waghemakere, who also built in part the cathedral at Antwerp. The projecting polygonal corner, with its handsome balcony, is very noticeable. The work is of the latest and most florid Gothic, somewhat lacking in grace and dignity, but ornate in its splendour. Observe the depressed arches, the noble cornice, the rich decoration of garlands. A few of the niches have now been filled with modern statues of saints. From the corner opposite, a good view is obtained of both parts of the Hôtel-de-Ville and also of the Belfry.

Turn to the left into the Rue Haut-Port, to observe the main front of this earlier Gothic building, with its fine projecting windows above, its empty niches, its handsome entrance staircase and main portal, its beautiful little balcony for addressing the people below, and the large projecting window of its ancient chapel near the centre. Note how well the façade is thus broken up and diversified. This is the finest specimen of florid Gothic in Belgium. Beyond it comes another Renaissance portion, and then a handsome Renaissance dwelling-house. The street also contains several fine early houses, the best of which (a Gothic guildhall, known as the Cour St. Georges) stands at the corner to the left, facing the Hôtel-de-Ville.

The interior of the Hôtel-de-Ville need not be visited, though it has a handsome Gothic staircase (demolished, sold, built into a private house, re-erected) and some fine halls and internal courts, interesting to those who have plenty of time at their disposal.

Now, return to the Belfry and continue straight down the left-hand side of the Rue de la Catalogne. The church on the right, round the base of which houses have been allowed to cluster, is St. Nicolas—the oldest in the town. This is one of the most solid pieces of architecture at Ghent. It has a fine decorated tower, which has happily escaped restoration, besides small turrets to the Transepts, and two, rather larger, to the gable of the Nave. Go on into the Koornmarkt or Marché aux Blés, to the R.; stand there for a moment, at the end of the Rue de la Catalogne, to observe the fine coup d’œil, which takes in St. Nicolas, the Belfry, and the tower of the Cathedral. The main façade of St. Nicolas faces the Koornmarkt. Over the door is a modern figure of the Saint himself, raising the three boys who were salted down for meat. Nicolas was the popular saint, the patron of the merchants and burgesses; and the prominent position of his church on the Corn Market is very characteristic of the burgher spirit of Ghent.