Culture in Ghent
One of Belgium’s oldest cities, Ghent has a wealth of medieval and classical architecture, as well as areas of urban renewal populated with quirky art galleries and contemporary museums.
Houses along Graslei reflected in the canal
COMPILED BY CATRIONA GREW, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM HELENA SMITH.PHOTOGRAPHS: R. KIEDROWSKI/ROBERT HARDING, COURTESY OF REDERIJ DE GENTENAER
Belfort
(belfortgent.be; Sint-Baafsplein)
Ghent’s Unesco-listed 14thcentury belfry (91m) is topped by a large dragon weathervane: he has become a city mascot. You’ll meet two previous dragon incarnations on the 350-stair climb to the top; there are lifts up some of the way. Enter through the Lakenhalle, Ghent’s cloth hall, left half-built in 1445 and only completed in 1903. Hear the carillon at 11.30am Fridays and 11am on summer Sundays.
Design Museum
(designmuseumgent.be; Jan Breydelstraat 5)
A vast toilet-roll sculpture humorously indicates the back side of this museum, where the collection focuses on furnishings including Baroque, Art Nouveau, 1970s psychedelic and 1990s furniture-as-art. It’s hosted in an architecturally eclectic building that catapults you from the 18th century into the 21st, then drags you back again.