Ghent

Ghent, or Gand, one of the most famous of the old Flemish cities, and the capital of East Flanders, is situated at the confluence of the Lys and Scheldt, 34 miles N.W. of Brussels. The town is built upon 26 islands, and is intersected by canals, which are crossed by 270 bridges. It is surrounded by gardens and meadows, and the old fortifications have been turned into boulevards. The older parts of the city are quaint, but the modern part has nothing extraordinary. Among the notable buildings are the 13th and 14th century cathedral of St. Bavon, which contains Van Eyck's Adoration of the Lamb, the belfry 280 feet high without the top and containing the famed bell Roland, the 15th century hotel-de-ville, which is a striking example of the period, the palais de justice, the university and the Beguinage where from 600 to 700 nuns live in separate cottage cells forming a small town. The chief industries are cotton, woollen, and linen manufactures, leather, lace, and sugar works, foundries and breweries, and there is a very extensive cultivation of flowers for export. A grand canal connects Ghent with the sea, but the mouth of the canal is in Holland. In 1007 Ghent came into the possession of Baldwin IV., and was made in the next century the capital of Flanders. By the 14th century it had so increased in importance as to provide an army of 80,000 men. The burghers were always noted for their turbulence, and had many a severe struggle with Charles the Bold and other of their rulers. In 1540 Charles V. took away their privileges, and from that time the town decayed. At the French Revolution it was made the capital of the department of the Scheldt, and in 1814 was included in the kingdom of the Netherlands, and became Belgian at the revolution of 1830. Our own John of Gaunt took his name from the town, and the Van Arteveldes were among its most renowned citizens.