Mass tourism is reaching levels of unsustainable impact on the major tourist sites of the world. Venice and Barcelona both claim 30 million visitors a year and residents are demanding action to prevent the crowds destroying any semblance of normal city life. Given the box ticking, selfie mentality of many modern tourists it is unlikely that they are going to be too concerned about their impact on these sites. So, what for the traveller who wants space and time to enjoy a historic city and embrace its culture and people.
One answer is to look elsewhere for interesting but less “hot” sites. Surprisingly, one often does not have to travel far to find a quieter, unspoilt alternative. This thought occurred to me the other day when travelling from Brussels to Ghent. The train was busy with foreign tourists, but I think I must have been the only one that got off at Ghent St Pierre. The next stop was Bruges and I suspect all my fellow tourists were set for the beautiful, but tourist- bloated, city.
Ghent, while by no means a tourist backwater, still has the sense of a city where people live, work and play. The relatively small number of tourists complements, rather than dominates, city life. Ghent itself though is no blushing bridesmaid. When Bruges was still a relative fledgling, Ghent was the biggest city in northern Europe after Paris. However, by the end of the C15, along with the rest of Flanders, a series of events meant that its heyday had passed and it began to decline in relative importance to its European neighbours. As a result, without the economic drive to expand and rebuild, much of the medieval city survived. Once rundown, these buildings are now largely and sensitively restored. In the late C18, Ghent’s fortunes were transformed when an English spinning mule was smuggled into the city. This kick-started the Industrial Revolution in Europe and restored Ghent’s place as one of the major manufacturing centres of the continent. Manufacturing has declined during the C20 but massive expansion of the university and service sectors has maintained a thriving city economy.
The city centre has many showpiece medieval buildings – churches, town halls, markets and one of the most complete castles in Flanders. There is a batch of great museums, the MSK, the Museum of Fine Arts has an impressive collection of Flemish paintings from medieval to contemporary, SMAK has ground-breaking contemporary art and the fascinating STAM tells the history of Ghent from its inception to the present day. There is a particularly interesting section on how the city has transformed itself since the 1970’s when the city centre’s medieval streets were choked with traffic. Today, the centre is largely pedestrianized and is a delight to walk around – just watch out for the bicycles!
Perhaps the greatest treasure in Ghent, and the one that draws the tourist coaches, is the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. This monumental work is considered one of the most important paintings in history. Painted on oak panels covered with an extremely fine layer of chalk and then several layers of oil paint, it is considered to be one of the first paintings, and certainly the earliest masterpiece, using the medium of oil paint. It is also the most stolen painting in history and, indeed, one of the panels is still missing following a notorious theft in 1934. The painting is currently being restored. It has been calculated that only about 30% of the painting currently seen is van Eyck’s. Research has shown that the original painted surface, under the later additions, is in surprisingly good condition and the restoration seeks to remove the later layers and restore, where necessary, to give the most complete, authentic appearance possible. While the restoration goes on, the panels being worked on are moved to the MSK where a purpose-built, glass-walled workshop has been created so that visitors can see the restoration work in progress. It is absolutely fascinating. The painstaking work commenced in 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in 2019.
Getting around Ghent is easy. The city centre is compact and walkable and the excellent Ghent City Card provides free public transport as well as access to all the museums, one day bicycle hire and a guided boat tour. Good value at 30 euro for 48 hours and 35 euro for 72 hours. It can be purchased at the tourist office or any participating venue.
Oldgreytravel stayed at the Hotel Onderbergen and travelled with Eurostar on their “Any Belgian Station” offer.
