Page 115 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Brussels Bruges Ghent & Antwerp

GHENT  113

a characteristic example of its pure architectural forms, with
post-Reformation architecture. soaring columns brightly lit by
The statues in the niches on the high windows. The space is
façade were added in the 1890s. punctuated by a massive and
Among this group of figures it extravagantly Baroque altar
is possible to spot the original screen, a clarion call to the
architect, Rombout Keldermans, Counter-Reformation; unusually
who is shown studying his plans. for such latter-day alterations, it
The building is still the city’s harmonizes with the rest of the
administrative centre. Guided church to exhilarating effect.
tours pass through a series of
rooms, the most fascinating of P Graslei and Korenlei
which is the Pacification Hall. This Map E2.
was once the Court of Justice These are two embankments
and the site of the signing of that face each other across the
the Pacification of Ghent (a Tusschen Brugghen, once
treaty between Catholics and Ghent’s main medieval harbour. Graslei and 16th-century guildhouses along
Protestants against Hapsburg The Graslei, on the eastern the River Leie
rule) in 1576. side, possesses a fine set of
guildhouses. Among them, at E Design Museum Ghent
P Belfort No. 14, the sandstone façade of Jan Breydelstraat 5. Map E1. Tel (09)
Sint Baafsplein. Map F2. Tel (09) 233 the Guildhouse of the Free 267 9999. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun.
3954. Open 10am–6pm daily. Closed Boatmen is decorated with finely Closed 1 Jan, 24, 25 & 31 Dec. &
1 Jan, 25, 26 & 31 Dec. & 8 in Dutch detailed nautical scenes, while ∑ designmuseumgent.be
and English at 3:30pm. the Corn Measurers’ guildhouse This decorative arts museum
Ghent’s belfry, a prominent next door is adorned has a large collection
landmark rising 91 m (299 ft) to by bunches of fruit con tained within
the gilded-copper dragon on and cartouches. an elegant
the tip of its spire, is situated The earliest 18th-century
between the cathedral and the building here is town house.
town hall. A lift to its parapet at the 12th-century The displays are
65 m (213 ft) offers magnificent Spijker (Staple arranged in two
views over the city. Originally House) at No. 10. sections, begin-
built in 1313, the Belfort was This simple Sofa at Design Museum ning at the front
restored in the 19th and 20th Romanesque structure with a series of lavishly
centuries. Its bells today include a stored the city’s grain supply for fur nished period rooms that
54-bell carillon, which plays tunes hundreds of years until a fire feature textiles, furniture and
to accompany the clock chimes destroyed its interior. The artifacts from the 17th to the
every 15 minutes, and for gabled buildings of the Korenlei, 19th centuries. At the back, a
keyboard concerts every Sunday facing the Graslei across the modern extension to the
around noon and evenings on water, date from later centuries, building focuses on modern
the first Friday of the month. but gracefully complement the design from Art Nouveau to
Below the Belfort is the Graslei. The views from the St contemporary works, and
Lakenhalle (Cloth Hall), a fine Michielsbrug, the bridge at the includes furniture by Victor
Flemish-Gothic building from southern end, are among the Horta (see p84), Marcel Breuer
1425, where the city’s cloth-trade most beautiful in Ghent. and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
was carried out (guided tours
only, on request). The building
also incorporates a small prison.
R St Niklaaskerk
Cataloniëstraat. Map E2. Open daily.
This merchants’ church, built in
the 13th–15th centuries, was
dedicated to their patron saint,
St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra (and
Santa Claus). The church is a fine
example of the distinctive and
austere style called Scheldt
Gothic. The interior was once
packed full of guild shrines and
chapels, until Protestant church-
wreckers destroyed them in
1566; today it is remarkable for The view over Ghent from the Belfort belltower

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