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Photo: Paul Hermans, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This béguinage (Dutch: begijnhof) was founded in 1234 and was soon named after Saint-Elisabeth who was canonized in 1236. The last beguines departed from here in 1874 for the new Sint-Amandsberg béguinage.
The Great St. Elizabeth Beguinage, also known as the Old St. Elizabeth Beguinage or the Holy Corner, is a beguinage in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of three beguinages in the city – the other two are the New St. Elizabeth Beguinage in the suburb of Sint-Amandsberg and Our Lady Ter Hooyen in the Lange Violettenstraat. Both St. Elizabeth beguinages were named after Elizabeth of Hungary, also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Closed until 2026. Design museum Gent is the only design museum in Belgium. It possesses an extensive collection of Belgian design objects, supported by international pieces. The collection spans the era from the art nouveau of Henry van de Velde up to today's avant-garde design.
Castle of the Counts
Built by Count Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders, soon after he returned from the Crusades in 1180 with images of similar crusader castles in the Holy Land. If its walls (2 m thick), battlements, and turrets failed to intimidate attackers, the count could always turn to a well-equipped torture chamber inside. You can view relics of the chamber in a small museum in the castle. Climb up to the ramparts of the high central building, the donjon, which has great views of Ghent's rooftops and towers.
The medieval harbour is a beautiful setting with many historic buildings, including the house of the Grain Weighers, the toll house, and the Guildhall of the Free Boatmen, fronting onto the river Leie.
Meat house
See the hams hanging from the timbers of the roof which is constructed without the use of nails.
The House of Alijn
The House of Alijn displays cultural artifacts of Flemish recent and not so recent past. The visitor attains more insight into Flemish heritage by looking at old photograph albums, jewelry, old toys and so on. These objects reveal the spirit of the times as well as ways and customs and they remind us of the days in the past.