Ghent (IPAEng: ˈɡɛnt; Gent IPA2: ʝɛnt in Dutch, Gand 1 in French, and formerly Gaunt in English) is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region, Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and became in the Middle Ages one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe. Today it is a busy city with a port and a university.
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Ghent (IPAEng: ˈɡɛnt; Gent IPA2: ʝɛnt in Dutch, Gand 1 in French, and formerly Gaunt in English) is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region, Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and became in the Middle Ages one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe. Today it is a busy city with a port and a university.
The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the towns of Afsnee, Desteldonk, Drongen, Gentbrugge, Ledeberg, Mariakerke, Mendonk, Oostakker, Sint-Amandsberg, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Sint-Kruis-Winkel, Wondelgem and Zwijnaarde. With 233,120 inhabitants in 2006, Ghent is Belgium's third largest city by number of inhabitants. The current mayor of Ghent, Daniël Termont, leads a coalition of the SP.a/VlaamsProgressieven and VLD.
Every year a ten day long street festival is held called the "Ghent Fests" (Gentse Feesten in Dutch). About 2 million visitors attend the festival every year.
History
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.
Around 650 Saint Amand founded two abbeys in Ghent: the Saint Peter Abbey and the St. Bavo's Abbey . 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, as abbot of both abbeys. In 851 and 879 the city was however attacked and plundered twice by the Vikings.
The city recovered and flourished from the 11th century on. Until the 13th century Ghent was the biggest city in Europe after Paris; it was bigger than London, Cologne or Moscow.Fact: date=February 2007 Within the city walls lived up to 65,000 people. Today, 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.
Behind it the Saint Nicholas church is visible.]] The rivers flowed in an area where a lot of land was periodically inundated. These richly grassed 'meersen' ("water-meadows": a word related to the English 'marsh', but not meaning exactly the same, a 'meers' is not permanently under water) were ideally suited for herding sheep, the wool of which was used for making cloth. In fact, Ghent was during the Middle Ages the most important city for cloth.Fact: date=February 2007
