![]() ![]() ![]() These rich grass 'meersen' (" water-meadows": a word related to the English ' marsh') were ideally suited for herding sheep, the wool of which was used to make cloth. The rivers flowed in an area where much land was periodically flooded. ![]() The belfry and the towers of the Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas' Church are just a few examples of the skyline of the period. Up to 65,000 people lived within the city walls. By the 13th century, Ghent was the biggest city in Europe north of the Alps after Paris it was bigger than Cologne or Moscow. Under the protection of the County of Flanders the city recovered and flourished from the 11th century, growing to become a small city-state. However, in 851 and 879 the city was plundered by Vikings. The city grew from several nuclei, the abbeys, and a commercial centre. Around 800, Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, appointed Einhard, the biographer of Charlemagne, abbot of both abbeys. Peter's ( Blandinium) and Saint Bavo's Abbey. Middle Ages Buildings along the river Leie in GhentĪround 650, Saint Amand founded two abbeys in Ghent: St. When the Franks invaded the Roman territories from the end of the 4th century and well into the 5th century, they brought their language with them, and Celtic and Latin were replaced by Old Dutch. There are no written records of the Roman period, but archaeological research confirms that the Gent area continued to be inhabited. Other sources connect its name with an obscure deity named Gontia. Most historians believe that the older name for Ghent, 'Ganda', is derived from the Celtic word ganda, which means confluence. ( May 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Īrchaeological evidence shows human presence around the confluence of the Scheldt and the Leie going back as far as the Stone Age and the Iron Age. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. ![]() The ten-day-long Ghent Festival ( Gentse Feesten) is held every year and attended by about 1–1.5 million visitors. The current mayor of Ghent is Mathias De Clercq ( Open Vld). The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,205 km 2 (465 sq mi) and had a total population of 560,522 as of 1 January 2018, which ranks it as the fourth most populous in Belgium. With 262,219 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019, Ghent is Belgium's second largest municipality by number of inhabitants. The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the surrounding suburbs of Afsnee, Desteldonk, Drongen, Gentbrugge, Ledeberg, Mariakerke, Mendonk, Oostakker, Sint-Amandsberg, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Sint-Kruis-Winkel, Wondelgem and Zwijnaarde. The city originally started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Late Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in size only by Brussels and Antwerp. Ghent ( Dutch: Gent ( listen) French: Gand ( listen) Medieval English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. ![]()
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