Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/581

Rh GHENT lation and the number of houses. A striking and pleasing feature is the number of promenades, the most noteworthy being the Coupure or “ Cutting,” so called from the branch of the Bruges canal constructed in 1758. Gardens, orchards, and corn-ﬁelds are enclosed within the ancient boundaries of the walls, which extended nearly 8 miles in circumfer- ence. An excellent view of the city and its environs is obtained from the belfry of the grand old watch-tower erected by the men of Ghent between 1183 and 1339, from whose summit the voice of the famous bell Roland called the burghers together for ﬁre or fray. The present 5‘ _ ‘v .:r 1 Ulrum 4|'hJ!Il.—EVARL)- rnrvr Plan of G hcnt. 1. Great Béguinage. I 9. Church of St Michel. IQ. .bbcy St Haven. ‘.3. Church of St !~'auvcur. 10. Church of St Nicllolas 19. Béguinage. Library and Royal 11. Hotel de Ville. 20. Church of Ste Barbe. Athenzcum. 12. Watch Tower (Belfry). '21. Theatre. 4. Church of St Jacques. )3. Cathedral of St Baron. ' 22. Gas-Works. 5. Statue of Artevcldc. '14. University. '23. Church of St .- nc. 6. Cannon (Dulle Griete). -I-5. Court—H0use. ‘24. Little Béguinage. 7- Collnl-3' Castle. 10'. Theatre. 2-3, ‘.36, 27 Bar1'.1eks. 8. Fish Market. 17. Baths. i spire of cast iron dates from 1854, but it is still surmounted by the golden dragon brought to Ghent from the church of St Sophia in Constantinople, not long after the conquest of that city by the crusaders. loland was removed by Charles Y., and its place is now supplied by a chime of 44 bells. Almost all the houses of the wealthier classes of Ghent are constructed after the Italian fashion, with wide portes— cochores, spacious courtyards, and lofty staircases; but along the quays and in the older streets there are still numerous specnnens of the quainter and grander architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries. The industrial classes live for the most part in long monotonous rows of poor-looking houses. Among the public squares the most noteworthy are the I riday Market (Jlarché clu Vendrecli), where in former days the counts of Flanders were inaugurated and the trades unions used to assemble; the Ifauler (the word in Flemish means field), which became the Place d"A.rmes lll lSl2, and IS the favourite rendezvous of the fashionable 563 reviews ; the Corn Market, which is one of the busiest spots in the town ; and the Place Sainte Pharailde, which contains the facade of the ﬁsh-market and the gate of the Counts’ Castle, and is annually the scene of the so-called Fair of the Little Presents (Prescn{jesmarl-t). The Plaine des Recollets, which takes its name from the convent of the Reformed Franciscans (1225-1796), was in 1836 chosen as the site of the new court-house. Near the Friday Market is an enormous cannon, 18 feet long, 10 feet in girth, and nearly 3 feet wide at the mouth, formed in the same fashion as “ Mons Meg” in Edinburgh Castle, and surnamed Dulle G'r£ele, or “Mad Meg or Margaret.” The cathedral of St Bavon (Flem. Barjfs) ranks as one of the most splendid of the churches of Belgium. Though the original foundation dates from the 9th or 10th century, the Crypt and choir of the actual ediﬁce have no higher antiquity than the 13th century, and the other parts were not completed till the 16th. The roof of the nave has been erected since the destructive fire of 1822. Originally dedicated to St John, the church received its present name only in 1540, when Charles V. made it the seat of the collegiate chapter of the abbey of St Bavon ; and it was not till 1559 that it was constituted a cathedral at the request of Philip II. of Spain. In its exterior St Bavon’s is rather heavy in style, but it is surmounted by a fine octagonal tower, which, before the destruction of the spire by lightning i11 1603, had a height of 360 feet, and still reaches 270 feet. The interior is remarkable for the rich- ness and variety of its decorations. The choir and transepts are lined with black marble, and the balustrades are of white or variegated marble. A statue of St Bavon in his ducal robes adorns the high altar, and in front are four tall copper candlesticks which belonged to Charles I., and bear the royal arms of England. Beneath the windows of the choir are aflixed the arms of the knights of the golden ﬂeece, whose last chapter was held by Philip II. in St Bavon’s in 1559. The chapels are twenty-four in number ; their gates are of brass, and almost every available spot has its paint- ing or statue. The eleventh is known as the Chapel of the Lamb, as it contains the central and principal portion of the famous Adoration of the Lamb painted by John Van Eyck in 1432. Hubert Van Eyck, his brother and compeer, and Margaret, his sister, lie buried in the crypt. The church of St Nicholas—an early Gothic structure, with a great tower of the 15th century and a modern portico—has the credit of being the oldest in the town ; and St Michael’s, dating from about 1450, but frequently restore(l, is memor- able as the scene of the worship of reason during the French Revolution. Previous to the Revolution there existed in Ghent a large number of convents and monasteries (thirty- seven establishments of this class, with 1122 inmates, are recorded in 1781); and one of its most famous institutions at the present day is the Béguinage of St Elizabeth, a com- munity of about 600 or 700 nuns, who inhabit a separate quarter of the town, consisting of little brick-built cottages arranged in streets and squares within a common wall. Among the secular buildings of Ghent one of the ﬁnest is the Hotel de Ville, its northern facade being an excep- tionally rich example of ﬂamboyant Gothic of the 15th century, and its eastern facade presenting a curious contrast, with its rows of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns after the style of the Italian Renaissance. The court-house or palais de justice is a heavy but imposing structure in the Romanesque manner, erected between 1835 and 1843 by the architect Roelandt at the common expense of the state, the province, and the town. The minor apartments of the lower ﬂoor have been all more or less sacriﬁced to the great Hall of the Lost Footsteps, which is 240 feet long and 70 feet wide. About the same time the same architect was world, the Plaine de St Pierre, especially used for military I entrusted with the designs for the casino, a building adapted