We already had a one-day itinerary for the centre of Ghent, with everything you need for your first visit to one of Belgium’s most colourful cities. To make your walk more lively, it’s worth turning on the audio guide: it not only shows you the way, but also tells stories – lively, strange, and slightly funny ones. Similar to those we have collected in this article. Ghent knows how to surprise you if you listen to it!
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So, let’s start from the tourist centre. It’s somewhere behind us. Ahead of us is the Castle of the Counts of Flanders, one of the darkest reminders of what Ghent was like in medieval Belgium. Stone, gloomy, as if it was built not for beauty, but to make it immediately clear: there will be no cheerful stroll. Or there will be – but one with torture, counterfeiters and conspirators in the basements.
Castle of the Counts of Flanders
On postcards of Ghent, the castle looks picturesque: turrets, battlements, almost like a fairy tale. But Count Philip of Alsace in the 12th century was not thinking about aesthetics. He built this fortress in the very centre of the city as a threat – literally: ‘Sit quietly until the inquisitor is called.’ And it must be said, the message was understood correctly.
Once you get inside, the postcards end.
There is little here to remind you of solemn receptions and knightly banquets. The stone corridors are oppressively silent, the air is damp, the staircases are narrow, and the windows are slits. It seems that the walls remember not celebrations but sentences, especially in the torture chamber — the most famous part of the castle.
Here you will find devices that are better left unimagined in action: Spanish collars and boots, tongs, knives and, of course, the rack. All this is accompanied by a touch of museum irony: mannequins grin theatrically, as if the Middle Ages were joking with you. The labels are also rather direct in their wording. The museum does not flirt with the visitor but tests them instead: will you endure it or not?
The most vivid story is connected with the execution of a counterfeiter. According to legend, he was boiled alive in a cauldron set up right in the courtyard. A lesson must be loud, after all. Today, of course, this cauldron is not boiling, but it is still there. The sign dryly recounts what happened, and the rest is left to your imagination.
Let’s return to the present. Now you can climb the tower from the castle. And here there is a sudden change of tone. From here, Ghent seems quiet and peaceful: tiled roofs, winding canals, cathedral spires reaching into the sky… Almost like a watercolour painting. It’s as if everything that was below has nothing to do with it.
St. Nicholas Church on the market square
St. Nicholas Church was built in the 13th century – and not just anywhere, but right above the market square. Such buildings are a distinctive feature of cities like Ghent in medieval Belgium: religion and trade literally coexisted side by side.
- A symbol of generosity: it was the merchants who donated to the construction
- A reminder: trade, get rich, but don’t forget who is watching from above
Saint Nicholas was considered the patron saint of merchants, and his presence here was quite visible.
Services were held inside, as well as guild meetings. Ghent was a free city, and the church served not only as a spiritual centre but also as a public stage. Business deals were made, transactions were concluded, and sometimes people literally hid from the authorities.
Local history is also connected with the church: one merchant promised to give away all his wealth if his son returned from the seas. The son returned, but the merchant, as usual, changed his mind. That same night, the masonry cracked at the tower. The saint reminded him that words are also currency.
Incidentally, this is where you can enjoy the classic view: the three towers of Ghent (St. Nicholas, Belfry and St. Bavo) line up like in an old engraving.
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The Belfry Tower in the centre of Ghent
The Belfry Tower in Ghent was never just a bell tower. It was built in the 13th century so that everyone could see that this city had rights – and it did not hide them in the basement. The charter (a document confirming self-government) was not kept in some archive, but in a guarded chest inside the tower itself.
That is why the bell at the top did not ring according to the church schedule, but only when trouble was brewing: fire, attack or uprising.
In 1540, Ghent rebelled against a new tax for Charles V’s war with France. Ironically, the emperor himself was born in Ghent, in the luxurious Prinsenhof. The response was merciless: the execution of 25 rebels, the confiscation of the city’s privileges and a humiliating ritual – a «procession of shame». Barefoot townspeople in white shrouds and with ropes around their necks walked silently past the very palace where their executioner was born.
The dragon on the spire
And from the very top of the Belfry, a golden dragon has been watching over it all for centuries. According to one version, it was brought from Constantinople, according to another – from Bruges. Since then, it has been sitting on the spire, turning in the wind and seeming to keep an eye on everything to make sure it is in place. When the dragon was once taken down for restoration, the whole of Ghent queued up to see it up close – like an old friend whom everyone had known only by silhouette throughout their childhood.
The dragon has a name – «Draak van Gent» – and is considered the oldest city symbol in Belgium.
Does it remind you of anything? The rooster from Notre Dame in Paris is probably much more famous, even though it is younger. But their fates are similar: both survived destruction and made a triumphant return. It seems that even fire cannot destroy something if it has a sacred core.
Dulle Griet pub on Vrijdagmarkt square
In the centre of Ghent, on Vrijdagmarkt, there is a pub called Dulle Griet, where beer is served not only with foam, but also with a twist. Order the signature Kwak (a strong amber beer in a flask on a wooden stand) and hand over one of your shoes. It will be hung from the ceiling and returned when the flask is empty.
They say the tradition started when a tipsy student ran off with an expensive glass, and the landlady – barefoot, in her nightgown – ran after him. Since then, the «shoe deposit» has become a thing. Now there’s a whole collection hanging above your head: trainers, boots, even loafers. Kwak, by the way, is strong. After the first glass, you don’t feel like running anymore — except maybe to take a photo of your shoe against the backdrop of the chandelier. And to think that Belgium really knows how to surprise, especially Ghent.
A mill in the old quarter of Ghent
After the story with the shoe and the glass, it’s time to recall another beer legend – this time with a moral.
In the old quarter of Ghent, there lived a miller known for his weakness for beer. Every evening, he would linger in the tavern and return home with a wobbly gait. One night, as he was walking past the mill, he heard a voice from the roof: «You’re drunk again, you lazybones!» – and saw a huge owl staring at him reproachfully. In a panic, he ran away, and in the morning he realised that the owl was just his own shadow cast on the wall by a lantern. Since then, the miller has drunk less, and the owl has become a local symbol of prudence – today it can be found on the signs of pubs and cafes.
There are many such stories in Ghent – on the walls, under the ceilings, in a glass left on the table. And if something suddenly seems strange, funny or suspiciously quiet during your walk, it may be the beginning of a new tale. In Belgium, they know how to hide legends where you least expect them – especially in Ghent.
Dimitris Vetsikas / Pixabay 
© Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE / Unsplash
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