22 October 2023 Ghent

 

22 October 2023        Ghent

Belgium’s 2^nd  largest city and one of its oldest, Ghent, is a canal-based city that is located at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers within the Flanders district.  Victor Hugo once described it as “a kind of Venice of the North.”  It is believed that the name Ghent was derived from the Celtic word “Ganda” which means a confluence.  While not much is known of its earliest history, archaeologists have found evidence of settlements dating from the stone age.

 

Around 650 two abbeys were founded in Ghent and the city grew-up around them, but in 851 and 879, the Vikings entered and plundered the city.  Ghent recovered and by the 13^th century Ghent had become the largest and wealthiest city in Northern Europe and a leader in cloth trade.  This was a result of the periodic flooding of the rivers that created rich grassy water meadows that were excellent for raising sheep.  The wool from these sheep made Ghent the leading city for the manufacture and export of cloth during the Middle Ages.

 

Up until 1584, Ghent was an independent city/state.  During the period between the 16^th and 18^th centuries, Ghent’s economy declined, mainly as a result of the constant invasions and attacks by Spain, Austria and France, manufacturing advances made by England’s textile industry that Ghent could not compete against, and the loss of its access to the sea as the Netherlands controlled the estuary of the Scheldt River where it flowed into the North Sea.  After the Battle of Waterloo, Ghent became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands for 15 years, until the Belgian Revolution of 1830 when Belgium became an independent nation.

 

Ghent’s textile industry again began to flourish in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Industrial and factory machine plans were smuggled out of England and using this knowledge, Ghent introduced a new  power operated cotton loom.  Ghent also constructed a new port and the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal at the mouth of the Scheldt that not only provided access to the sea but permitted larger vessels to navigate to Ghent’s docks.  And in 1913, Ghent hosted the World’s Fair.  During both World War I and II, Ghent was occupied by the Germans, but fortunately escaped serious damage.

 

Today Ghent is a major seaport, its industry is flourishing, and its tourism trade is growing.  The medieval old town is the same as it was in the Middle Ages with its buildings still showing their Gothic and Renaissance styles in the city’s skyline and its quays, docks and bridges affording some of the most beautiful views of ancient guild houses and medieval facades.

 

And for you US history buffs, the Treaty of Ghent was signed here on December 24, 1814, ending the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.