Throughout history, many strong men and women in Ghent have fought for their ideals. Some received a statue; others disappeared into the mists of time. Walk through the centre of Ghent and you will immediately see why it has won so many tourism prizes and earned international acclaim. Nowhere else can you flit so quickly from the 14th to the 21st century and back again, without feeling out of place for a minute.

Ghent in figures

  1. The Ghent Festivities is a festival that takes serious stamina. Every year it attracts 765.000 m² of festival fun and 1.300.000 visitors.
  2. Ghent residents love ‘uufflakke’, (brawn or head cheese, a local speciality) with mustard. 69.000 pots of Tierenteyn-Verlent mustard are sold in Ghent each year.
  3. Divine glow: 170.000 visitors from all over the world come to see the Van Eyck brothers’ painting, the Mystic Lamb, every year.
  4. Ghent will get you going. The city loves cyclists and cyclists love the city. Every year, Ghent rents out 11.500 city bikes.
  5. Rebellious streak: Every year, the police in Ghent catch 1.800 people peeing in the street.
  6. Vibrant Ghent, a city full of students. Ghent has 74.000 hard-working students. 
  7. There’s a reason why Ghent is nicknamed the ‘Mediaeval Manhattan’. Ghent has 3 monuments that are listed as UNESCO World Heritage.
  8. Ghent residents love to enjoy life. Ghent is just the place to be if you like the good life and great food. Ghent has an impressive 734 restaurants.
  9. Yes, Ghent is full of ‘wippers’ and ‘vuile taloren’ (ask Madame Temmerman at the sweetshop what these words mean). Sample Ghent’s delicious sweets and candy (or ‘sneukelen’ as she would say). In Temmerman’s authentic sweet shop on the Kraanlei, you will find 100 different kinds of old-fashioned sweets.