The Old Castle and Old Memories

Gravensteen

Located a few blocks away from the Koorenmarkt is Gravensteen, or the Count's Castle. Portions of it date back as far as the 11th Century.

Much of it has been painstakenly restored. In fact restoration work was ongoing at the time of our visit.

This is a view showing the topmost tower of the castle, as seen from on of the ramparts.

This is a view from inside the central courtyard of the castle, looking toward the entrance to the Great Hall.

The windows outlined in yellow are the exterior faces of the windows shown in the photograph below.

This photographs shows the interior view of a portion of the Great Hall. These windows are seen from the other side in the photograph above.

The thick glass of that time period allowed dim, diffuse light to enter a room. It was however extremely difficult to see the outside through the glass.

This is the view from the highest point on the castle. On the left hand side is the Leie River, which is fronted by numerous old guild houses.

The red dot is the spot on St. Michael's Bridge where the St. Michael statue is located. It was from that spot where I took the picture of the Gravensteen with the Leie River in the foreground.

Here I am on the top level of Gravensteen, enjoying the view. From atop Gravensteen the visitor is treated to number of spectacular views of this beautiful city.

This is another view taken from the top of the castle. The foreground is the old fish market. The building on the right hand side is topped by a statue of Poseidon (Neptune), the god of the sea .

The Leie River runs immediately behind the buildings in the foreground. Slightly further back is the old slaughterhouse. As the story goes, when it was in use, the water of the river would run red with the blood of the animals which were butchered there. It is no longer used as a slaughterhouse. Presently it houses a number of trendy restaurants and artisan's shops.

In the background is a good view of the three towers, which define the Ghent skyline.

Ghosts from the Past

While in Gent we took a few minutes to see some of the places that were of some personal significance to me, from when I lived here.

This is one of them. It is the Laurent Delvauxstraat 4, the location of my first apartment in this city. I lived here for six months. It was a bit of a dump, but I have many fond memories of it.

I went up to the front door. It was still painted the same horrid shade of green that is was in 1978.

Like I explained at the outset, I spent nine months of my life in this city. I have spent more time here than I have in any other place outside of the United States. It was fun to go back and see the things that had changed in nearly twenty years' time. Although many things had changed, there were also many things which had not, which was actually more surprising.

1998

1978

Perhaps it is fitting for me to end here, standing on this bridge over the Leie River, with the 17th century guild houses behind me. For it is on this same spot, twenty years before, that I posed for a picture, which was sent home to family and friends with my Christmas cards. Aside from the fact that I look a bit older, little has changed over the years. Only the colors on the older picture have faded a bit.

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This page was created February 11,1999

This page was last updated October 12, 1999

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	Located a few blocks away from the Koorenmarkt is Gravensteen, or the Count's Castle. Portions of it date back as far as the 11th Century. Much of it has been painstakenly restored. In fact restoration work was ongoing at the time of our visit. This is a view showing the topmost tower of the castle, as seen from on of the ramparts.
This is a view from inside the central courtyard of the castle, looking toward the entrance to the Great Hall. The windows outlined in yellow are the exterior faces of the windows shown in the photograph below.
This photographs shows the interior view of a portion of the Great Hall. These windows are seen from the other side in the photograph above. The thick glass of that time period allowed dim, diffuse light to enter a room. It was however extremely difficult to see the outside through the glass.
	This is the view from the highest point on the castle. On the left hand side is the Leie River, which is fronted by numerous old guild houses. The red dot is the spot on St. Michael's Bridge where the St. Michael statue is located. It was from that spot where I took the picture of the Gravensteen with the Leie River in the foreground.
Here I am on the top level of Gravensteen, enjoying the view. From atop Gravensteen the visitor is treated to number of spectacular views of this beautiful city.
	This is another view taken from the top of the castle. The foreground is the old fish market. The building on the right hand side is topped by a statue of Poseidon (Neptune), the god of the sea . The Leie River runs immediately behind the buildings in the foreground. Slightly further back is the old slaughterhouse. As the story goes, when it was in use, the water of the river would run red with the blood of the animals which were butchered there. It is no longer used as a slaughterhouse. Presently it houses a number of trendy restaurants and artisan's shops. In the background is a good view of the three towers, which define the Ghent skyline.