The summit panorama
Cathedral, castle and quays from 65 metres.
EmDee โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Vandevorst, Kris โ CC BY 4.0 ยท Johan Bakker โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Johan Bakker โ CC BY-SA 3.0
Different: the Belfry is higher (with a lift) and gives all Ghent from the heart with the cathedral beside you; the castle is lower but its angle on the three towers together photographs better. For one visit: the Belfry for the full panorama and ease. For photographers: the castle. St Michael's Bridge is free for the towers from ground level.
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Ghent's Belfry is the middle and most symbolic of the three towers: a fourteenth-century medieval tower 91 metres tall topped by a gilded dragon (the city's symbol since 1377 โ the current one a copy, the old ones in the museum), UNESCO-listed among the belfries, which kept the "charter chest" โ Ghent's documents of liberties โ and guarded the city with its bells. The climb is relatively easy: a lift takes you most of the way, then steps to the bell chambers with the great carillon (54 bells) and its playing mechanism, the old dragons, and the top: a panorama over Ghent โ the cathedral beside you, St Nicholas' Church, the castle, the quays, the university. Far easier than Bruges' belfry thanks to the lift. At its base stand the Gothic Cloth Hall and the guardhouse, and it rises between the cathedral and St Nicholas' on Sint-Baafsplein โ the city's heart.
Cathedral, castle and quays from 65 metres.
The gilded dragon, Ghent's symbol, and the old ones in the chambers.
54 bells and the drum playing mechanism.
Sint-Baafsplein, 9000 Ghent