Ghent

This page is about the Belgian city. For other places called Ghent see Ghent (disambiguation) .

Ghent (Gent in Dutch , Gand in French , once Gaunt in English) is a municipality located in Flanders , oneof the three regions of Belgium , and in the Flemish province of East Flanders , of which it is thecapital. 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 . OnJanuary 1st, 2001 Ghent had a total population of 225.956. The total area is 157.69 km² which gives a population density of1421.65 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 ofe.g. two rivers (Scheldt and Lys). There are no written records of the Roman period but archeological research confirms that theregion 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 broughttheir 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 fromseveral 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.) were ideally suited for herding sheep,which wool was used for making cloth. In fact, 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 or65.000 people. It was e.g. bigger than London , Cologne or Moscow . Today, the center of the city still has several largetowers, the belfry and the towers of the Cathedral and Sint-Niklaas Church are just afew examples of what could be 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. This was on of thereasons for Flanders' good relationship with England.

Tourism

Ghent is arguably one of the most beautiful cities in Europe . Much of the city's medieval architecture remainsintact and is remarkably well preserved. Its center is the largest carfreearea in Belgium. Interesting highlights are the Saint BavoCathedral with the Ghent Altarpiece , the belfry , the gravensteen , and the Graslei . The city is host to some big culturalevents such as the Gentse Feesten , I Love Techno , Flanders International Film Festival Ghent and Festival vanVlaanderen . 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 RomanEmperor and King of Spain , Charles V , and of John of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster . Itwas also the site of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent whichformally ended the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States of America .

See also

• Ghent University
• Bruges and Antwerp

External links

• Official website - Information available in Dutch , English , French and German
• http://www.use-it.be/gent/eng/ Gent for youngsters