Page 112 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

110  BEY OND BRUSSELS

2 Street-by-Street: Ghent

As a tourist destination, the Flemish city of Ghent has long
been overshadowed by its neighbour, Bruges. In part this
reflects their divergent histories. The success of the cloth
trade during the Middle Ages was followed by a period of
stagnation for Bruges, while Ghent became a major indus­
trial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries. The resulting
pollution coated the city’s antique buildings in layers of
grime from its many factories. In the 1980s, Ghent initiated
a restoration programme. The city’s medieval buildings
were cleaned, industrial sites were tidied up and the canals
were cleared. Today, it is the intricately carved stonework . Het Gravensteen
Ghent’s centre is dominated
of its churches and antique buildings, as well as the city’s by the thick stone walls and
excellent museums and stern, forbidding castle, that give imposing gatehouse of its ancient
the centre its character. Castle of the Counts.

. Design Museum
Ghent
This elegant
19th-century dining K R A A N L E I
room is just one of many
charming period rooms S T
in the decor ative arts V E E R L E
museum. The collection PLEIN
is housed in an B U R G S T R A A T
18th-century mansion L A N G E M U N T
and covers art and
design from the 1600s
to the present. G R O E N T E M A R K

Graslei T
One of Ghent’s
most picturesque
streets, the Graslei
overlooks the River Leie
on the site of the city’s G R A S BU RG
medieval har bour. It is
lined with perfectly
preserved guildhouses;
some date from the
12th century. T
N
U
M

E
T
R
O
K
To Ghent St-Pieters
and Stadsmuseum
Korenmarkt
This busy square was once the Key
corn market; the commer cial Suggested route
centre of the city since the
Middle Ages. Today, it is lined
with popular cafés.

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