©Stad Gent - Dienst Toerisme
Have a picnic, enjoy an ice cream or read a book among the fruit trees, play leapfrog or have fun on the mini-trampolines… Everything’s possible on this green, child-friendly square next to St Bavo’s Cathedral.
In 2019, no less than 1400 square metres of asphalt had to make way for a flower-filled grassy area and an orchard. This refreshing oasis features pear trees, apple trees, a fig tree, a cherry tree, an almond tree and a mulberry tree. Sweet woodruff, wild strawberries and Madonna lilies are among the species that give colour and fragrance to the site. Many of the species that were planted here are also depicted on the famous masterpiece by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck.
Combined with the picnic benches, built-in trampolines, hidden sitting areas and wooden sheep, this make this square located between St Bavo’s Cathedral and the Castle of Gerald the Devil a green, child-friendly oasis. A paradise in the heart of the city!
A fun detail: one of the wooden sheep in the garden faces Vijd’s chapel, the original destination of the Ghent Altarpiece. Vijd’s chapel is easily recognisable from the outside by the stained-glass window featuring a lamb.
Do you want to admire van Eyck’s heavenly garden yourself? The verdant Maaseikplein enable you to experience paradise on earth as never before!
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