Ghent Belgium Tips From Locals

Ghent is a city of merchants

Every day, you will find a market on a square somewhere. On Sunday mornings, you can look for a punnet of strawberries or the collected works of Dickens from the city centre all the way to Ledeberg – there really is something for everyone. Tailor your walk to the markets and discover Ghent in an original way. The ‘Sunday-market walking route’ (for further details, go to visitgent.be or pop into the Visit Gent information office) does not just take you on a tour of the Sunday markets, it also shows you the three towers, Graslei and Korenlei, Mad Meg and many more beautiful sights.

Sundaymornings
Kouter: Flowers | Ajuinlei: Books | St.-Michielsplein: Food | Groentenmarkt: Arts And Crafts (Until 6 P.M.) | Bij St.-Jacobs: Antiques And Second-Hand Goods | Oude Beestenmarkt: Small Domestic Pets And Farmyard Animals, And Second-Hand Bicycles | Ledeberg Market: The Largest Market In Ghent, Just Outside The City Centre

Weekdays
Organic Foods: Groentenmarkt – Fridays – 7.30 A.M. To 1 P.M. | New Goods: Vrijdagmarkt – Fridays – 7 A.M. To 1 P.M. And Saturdays – 11 A.M. To 6.30 P.M., Concerts On Sundays | Antiques/Curiosities/ Second-Hand Goods: Bij St.- Jacobs And Beverhoutplein – Fridays & Saturdays – 8 A.M. To 1 P.M. Jacobs And Beverhoutplein – Fridays & Saturdays – 8 A.M. To 1 P.M.

Restoration of the Ghent Altarpiece

Ghent is my favourite
Belgian city

Bart Devolder (BDV): “I was delighted to return here. Ghent has always been my favourite Belgian city, purely out of sentiment: there's always something going on here, without it having to be perfect. It's welcoming without trying too hard, and touristy but not excessively so. Did you know, compared to Americans for example, that Belgians are far more reserved? Yet somehow this doesn’t really apply to the inhabitants of Ghent.”

Wonderful details of
the Ghent Altarpiece

 

BDV: “For years, I had a postcard of the ‘Singing Angels’ panel in my office, so I've always had a connection with the Ghent Altarpiece. In recent months, I've been working practically full-time on the restoration of ‘the angel Gabriel’, so I've been able to get to know it even better.” He is coordinating the restoration work on the retable, demonstrating how he and his colleagues are bringing the Ghent Altarpiece back to life with infinite patience. “The many layers of varnish which have been applied on top of the paint over the centuries have increasingly hidden Van Eyck's genius under an almost opaque layer. We are now removing these layers very carefully and discovering wonderful details in the process. For example, in the background we found a spider's

web painted in minute detail, and we now know that nobody has seen it since the 16th century!”.

Watch the restorers at work

BDV: “The Ghent Altarpiece is the pride and joy of local residents, of course, so we want to demonstrate our working methods to them and all its other admirers. We are therefore inviting everyone to come along to the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) and take a closer look at what we're up to. And many people are actually doing so, with a great deal of interest and enjoyment.”