The city has never forgiven Charles for his multiple sins – the  worst of which was the conversion of the Abby of St. Bavo – already 900 years old – into a fortress. It wasn't, in fact, until 1966 that the people of Ghent erected a statue in honor of Carolus Quint.

I tell you all this so you'll understand how it could happen that, later that same night, while standing alone on St.  Michael's Bridge, looking north toward the Castle of the Counts, looking northwest at the eerie spectacle of the Graslei's floodlit guildhalls, looking east at the triple spires of Ghent's famous "row of towers," looking down at the tarn black waters of  the River Leie – where heretics had once had to sink or swim – I experienced an involuntary shudder of real terror.

It was then that I wondered aloud how it happened that no Hollywood location scout had ever found this wonderful, gothic city.

More Places To See, Things To Do

You'll never see the smallest fraction of Ghent in the day that most tours consign to this great city. So, in the time allotted, see as much of the following as you can humanly work in.

First, though, for a great overview – and much cheaper than a guided tour – see the audiovisual performance – "The Ghent  Experience" – in The Castle of the Counts. A similar  presentation, "Ghent and Charles V," held in the Cloth Hall of the Belfry, is equally helpful. Here, while the audience gathers around an immense model of the city, a narrator with a roving spotlight hits the high spots of Ghentian history. The commentary is in six languages – though French and Flemish (an accented  dialect of Dutch) are the country's official tongues. (Brussels is the dividing line, incidentally, with French spoken south toward the French border and Flemish spoken north toward  the Channel.) Yet English seems to be spoken almost universally. I met a bartender in Bruges fluent enough to detect my minimal Southern accent. When I asked him how he learned to speak such good English, he told me he watched a lot of American TV. ("You know," he said, "re-runs.")

St. Bavo's Cathedral is certainly the first stop on our tour. The painting, "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," a  polyptic by the van Eyck brothers (Jan finished it after Hubert's death in 1426) hangs here. The huge, 24 foot panelled canvas – 12  years in the painting – is widely regarded as the "incontestable  masterpiece of the 15th century's Flemish art of painting." (It's in the tiny Vydt (Vijd) family chapel off the nave – named for the parishoner who commissioned it. Admission and commentary is  $1, which also buys admittance to the Romanesque crypt below.)

The "Adoration" is one of the earliest known examples of oil painting. Later, Justus of Ghent – whose 15th century "Christ On The Cross" also hangs in St. Bavo's – would export the art of oil painting to Urbino, Italy – just in time for the Renaissance.

Rubens's masterpiece (1624), "The Conversion of St. Bavo" (or "St. Bavo's Entry Into The Monastery") is also in the  cathedral (the Rubens Chapel behind the High Altar).

The altar of St. Bavo's is itself a masterpiece of white Italian marble and intertwined, intricately carved oak.

The "old port" of Ghent – at the Graslei and Koornlei – is a monument to Ghent's great age of the guilds – when, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, only Paris surpassed it in size, wealth and influence. The grand old guild halls and granary warehouses – where Ghent stored its "toll, taken in kind" – surround the port on every side. Be sure to see the old Fish Mine. The House of Free Boatmen is widely considered the most  beautiful Gothic guildhall in Belgium. While you're there, see the Grainweighers House and the House of the Masons.

You've already been introduced to the Castle of the Counts from which the city's founding fathers – the Counts of Flanders – ruled their sometimes "unruly" constituency. (They spent part of the year in the Castle of Bruges.) No Hollywood movie set can rival this castle – built in 1178 by Count Philip of Alsace on ninth century foundations for "gothic" atmosphere and authenticity. (I had to pinch myself when our tour guide began to resemble Vincent Price. A rap on the dank, six-foot thick,  granite walls, however, will quickly dispel any illusions.)

Nearby, the 16 ton cannon, Mad Meg ("Dulle Greit"), was the 15th century's equivalent to today's thermonuclear warhead. So feared was this formidable engine of warfare – that fired stone cannon balls with an ear-piercing roar – that it helped to usher in an era of peace and prosperity for the region.

The Castle of Gerard the Devil (yet another of Ghent's  "enlightened" medieval rulers) was one of the first noble residences constructed in stone. Today, it houses the State Archives and has an incredible subterranean crypt.

The three-towered Rabot dates from the city's seige (1488)  by Austrian Emperor Frederick III. It alone – of all Ghent's  fortifications – was spared by a vengeful Charles when he destroyed the city's defenses in 1540.

The "Triomphante" is the city's alarm bell – the town was  always fighting off somebody – and used to hang in The Belfry of  the Cloth Hall. (Today, it is mounted on a ground level pedestal nearby.) It was originally a bell known as "Roeland" which Charles shattered and melted down as an object lesson to the citizenry.

The Abbeys of St. Bavo (642) and St. Peter (630) were both founded by St. Amandus, the "Missionary of Ghent." But though the city formally dates from these events, Roman legions found an island settlement at this important river confluence centuries earlier. (Flanders was the "third part" of Gaul.) In 811, Charlemagne journied to Ghent to inspect his fleet. By the 14th  century, the Abbey of St. Bavo's was the largest landowner in all of Flanders. 

Museums And Galleries

With so much history, you would expect Ghent to be chock-a-block with museums – and it is. In addition to the Museum of Torture in the Castle of the Counts, there is the Museum of Contemporary Art. (Ghent is the only city in Belgium with one.) And too, the Museum of Fine Arts has quite a collection, including a number of paintings by Bosch, Rubens, van Dyck and others. The day-to-day life of an average Ghent resident (circa 1900) is the theme of the Museum of Folklore – housed in actual Flemish homes from the era. The museum also has a huge collection of dolls, bespeaking a city of puppeteers.

The 13th century Byloke Abbey today houses the Museum of Archaeology with exhibits tracing the city's history back to pre-Roman times.

Medieval ruins can be seen in the gardens of St. Bavo's Abbey (not to be confused with the cathedral of the same name). The English king Edward III was in residence here when his son John of Gaunt (a medieval spelling of Ghent) was born. There's also an interesting Museum of Stonework inside.

At the Museum of Sciences and Technology, the State  University has set up the ultimate science fair, with exhibits that "pay tribute to the pioneering work of scientists and  inventors."

You can learn all about the great Belgian playwright and  Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlink who, by happenstance, was  born in Ghent – at the Museum Vander Haeghen.

And at the open air "Kuip" of Ghent, you'll see a statue of "the tribune of the people," Jacob van Artevelde, and lots of others, both classical and contemporary.

Beguinages & Patrician Homes

Beguinages (secular retreats) were created in the Middle Ages for the widows and unmarried sisters of slain knights. Oftentimes, in the absence of a male provider, there were few choices for these women but entry into a nunnery or monastery. The beguinage – usually "attached" to an abbey – allowed them to live the monastic life of  "chastity and good works" without taking relgious vows. Today, several are still in operation in Ghent and offer private tours on request. Try the house of St. Juliana in the Large Beguinage for an intimate glimpse into a  world few Americans will ever see – let alone experience.

Most of the so called Patrician Mansions – built by Ghent's noblity in the opulent 17th and 18th centuries – are in use today as hotels and public buildings. Among them is the Hotel Schamp where, in 1814, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and other U.S. delegates stayed while negotiating the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. (Today, it houses the department store Innovation.)

Louis XVIII hid out at the Hotel Hane Steenhuyse during Napoleon's return from exile ("The Hundred Days"). He checked out after certain events transpired in nearby Waterloo. The guest register here also boasts Talleyrand, Chateaubriand, Czar Alexander I and William of Orange. The Duke of Wellington stayed in the Hotel Clemmen on the opposite side of the street during the final days of Napoleon's empire. Today, these grand buildings are occupied by the likes of the Royal Opera, the Ophthalmic Institute, the Royal Flemish Academy and others.

Events

Everyone loves a parade but Ghent loves a festival. While storm clouds were gathering over Europe (1913), Ghent was hosting  the World's Fair.

The granddaddy of all Ghent's festivals is the quinquenial (every five years) Floralies, one of the world's largest floral shows. Napoleon was honored at the first one way back in 1809, when 50 potted plants were arranged around a bust of the emperor. And, history tells us, the Floralies was "in bloom" during the Treaty of Ghent negotiations (1814) and that American delegates were among the large crowds.

But crowds of nearly a million are expected for the next Floralies in late April of 1990. During the week long event, flowers from all over the world will fill the nine-acre exhibition hall, vying for prizes of over 2 million Belgian francs. (Charleston's Magnolia Gardens at Eastertide can't touch this one!)

The annual Begonia Festival (Belgium's national flower) is held during the last week of August at Lochristi, 6 miles outside town. Horticulturists actually create pictures with different colored begonias.

Other festivals include the International Trade Fair (every September), the annual European Music Festival (last two weeks of  August and first week of September), the Festival of Flanders  (August/September), Antiques Fair (April/May), International Fair of Ghent (September) and over a dozen others.

Daytrips

Belgium is such a small nation – about the size of Maryland – that virtually all of its cities lie a "daytrip" distant from Brussels. (In fact, the relative dearth of hotels in Ghent is often blamed on the city's "daytrip from Brussels" image.) Thus, this category could theoretically number every city in Belgium. Keep this in mind as you make your travel plans. A few days lay-over in Brussels will show you unforgettable sights in the outlying cities and countryside.

Stops might include Ghent's sister city and capital of East Flanders, Bruges, called the "Venice of the north" for its scenic canals. Others high on our list include Ypres with its World War I battlegrounds and 40 cemetaries; Waterloo with its huge "Lion" Monument that covers virtually the entire battlefield; the "wilderness" Ardennes with its spectacular mountain scenery; and the port city of Antwerp where Peter Paul Rubens was born.

How To Get There

My visit to Ghent was via the "back door" of London, Dover, a Channel crossing and, finally, a "daytrip" train ride from Bruges. But if you're like most American travellers, you'll come to Ghent as a "daytrip" from Brussels, either as a quick stop on a multiple-city tour or by taking the train from the capital.

American Express's "The Best of Benelux" is an escorted ten-day tour ($745-$785 per person double occupancy plus air fare) that originates in Amsterdam, then continues on to The Hague, Brussels, Ghent, Bruges and Luxumbourg. The tour then crosses the border into the "champagne" country of France before terminating in Paris. Unfortunately, even this tour – one of few that visit  Ghent – spends only the morning there.

One of the best ways to visit Ghent is by water, aboard the  barge "Lys." "Floating Through Europe" offers this six-day round-trip barge excursion from Brussels. On the third day, you arrive in Ghent to spend the night and following morning. Passengers view the city's art treasures, tour old Ghent and shop. Late that afternoon, you cruise down the river Leie, and you're on your way to St. Martens-Latem, a village famous as the center of the Latem School of painters. (Ghent is located at the confluence of the  Rivers Schelde (Escaut) and Leie (Lys). The town itself is built on 100 islands!)

The tour features a Sunday departure date and runs from late May through mid-October. Cost is $1450/person (based on double occupancy and excluding airfare to Brussels.)

New York tour operator Annemarie Victory offers a deluxe gourmet tour to Belgium with a sidetrip to the Alsace wine region and the champagne region of France. This 13-day taste-bud extravaganza flies direct on Sabena to Brussels. On the fourth day, guests are bused over to Ghent for a half-day's walking tour, but as with the American Express package, the afternoon is spent in Bruges.

Tour guests will dine at some of the Continent's finest restaurants (at least one per day). There is a veritable galaxy of Michelin stars featured here. As you would expect, the tour is a pricey one at $3750 per person (based on double occupancy plus airfare) but includes tips, taxes, wines, etc.

Brussels bills itself as the transportation center of Europe, and for the non-tour traveller, the capital is the perfect jumping-off point for all that Belgium – and the Continent – have to offer. Only Sabena flies direct to Brussels from Atlanta. From Atlanta, Pan Am goes to Brussels by way of New York's Kennedy and London's Heathrow Airports. KLM flies direct to Amsterdam and then Brussels. From Atlanta, Lufthansa goes first to Frankfurt then Brussels. Out of Atlanta, TWA stops in New York  (JFK) before continuing on to Brussels. All the carriers offer comparable prices. Your travel agent can give you more details.

Belgium's rail network is said to be the world's most comprehensive, and true to relate, a route-map looks like the proverbial Georgia road map. Once you're in Brussels, Ghent lies a mere 35 minutes distant by rail. (As I said, tiny Belgium is only 11,750 square miles, and all its great cities are within a  short "commute" of Brussels. Bruges, for instance, is only 35  minutes beyond Ghent.) The Benelux Tourail season ticket – valid  March 15-October 31 – is good for five days of unlimited  travel in the Benelux nations – Belgium, Netherlands and  Luxembourg.

Also, because Ghent sits at the intersection of Continental traffic arteries E3 and E5, it is as easily reached by road as by rail. Avis and Hertz maintain rental fleets at the Brussels Airport, and the roads – even off the beaten path – are well-marked.

For More Information

Belgian National Tourist Board, 745 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10020 (212-758-8130)

Time permitting, when you land in Brussels, go to the Tourist Board's main office at 61 Rue Marche-aux-Herbes for up-to-date brochures, event calendars and maps of Ghent and other Belgian cities. Once in Ghent, go to the Tourist Information Center, located – where else? – in the Crypt of the Town Hall. The guides there know everything about their 1400-year-old city. They'll show you around for $9/hour. Guided trips by covered boat and horse-drawn carriage also originate here (April 1-October  31). They range in price from 50-450 B.F. (Belgian francs) or about $1.20-$11.00 at today's exchange rate. (Incidentally, at $6, the boat trip from Ghent all the way to Bruges – 25 miles by canal – has to be among Europe's best travel values.)

Note that the Belgian franc is worth far less than its Parisian counterpart. In the spring of 1984 when I visited, there were about 55 B.F. to the U.S. dollar. (Those 55 francs have  dwindled to 38.25 today.) Remember that you can maximize your exchange rate by changing your money after you arrive in country at a Belgian bank. Stay away from airport counters – except enough for cab fare – and Bureau de Change kiosques. Also, you'll get the best rate of exchange – and avoid commissions – by changing money as a cash advance on one of your credit cards. U.S. currency and travellers checks net a far lower exchange rate.

In 1984, a wonderful Belgian lunch of soup, rumsteak, salad, fried potatoes, Evian water, coffee and ice cream cost me 340 B.F. or about $6! (It would be $9 today.) And if you get homesick, it's a comfort to know that a cheeseburger, french fries and Coke can be eaten beneath the cathedral spires of Ghent for a paltry 121 B.F. – $2 then and $3 today. (Incredibly, with all the sights to see – and carillons to climb – I actually  lost weight on my trip to Belgium!)

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