23rd July 2010

Ghent

Leaving most of our luggage in Brussels, we travelled to Ghent to stay for the weekend. Starting off our visit, we had a guided tour with Professor Dr. Prevenier. He called Ghent a typical medieval city, where two rivers from France conjoined and followed out into the sea. The existence of this water route, meant that Ghent was a perfect candidate for trade and transport. First to exploit this were the Romans. They made the first highway that went from Rome passing through Ghent. This further enhanced the logistical importance of the city. Then came the Christian monks spreading their message of Christianity. They had such a huge influence on the city that one can still see numerous churches and cathedrals all over the city. The 3^rd wave of people to come here were traders, craftsmen and businessmen. They made high quality textiles that were sold all over the world. Since it was new city there were 3 ways of imposing authority in the city.

1. Through a political system and administration one could maintain law order. This gave rise to the town halls, and other administrative buildings.

2. The more ideological approach was to call on to the moral side of the people through religion. Hence, one can see many churches in the city. This was also indicative of the wealth of the city, because it required a lot of money to build and maintain a church. On a particular bridge, one could notice 4 churches around them. Thereby it signaled the wealth of the city.

3. The more pragmatic way of securing social peace was through the construction of a solid social security system. There were hospitals, houses for the old, and work for many so that they could earn a decent income. Once, the need for money was taken care of, then it would reduce the reasons for citizens to commit crimes.

Walking around the city I learnt a lot about how the city worked. There were buildings for grain storage, toll collection, and free masons. The storage of grain showed that the city was modern in its planning, as it planned for the unknown future. Additionally, I learnt about separate areas that were used for meat selling and storage due to the fear of infection that many had in those times.

Lastly, one could many architectural styles in the city. There were Gothic, Roman, French, Neo-classical, etc styles of buildings all over the city. Again, it was a good indicator of the wealth of the city.

In conclusion, I found Ghent to be a very well planned city, and rich city. The planning of the city was impeccable, and so was the foresight that people had in storing grain for the future. Lastly, keeping separate areas for the sale and storage of meat showed the health consciousness of the citizens.