(in Latin Ganda, French Gand, Flemish Gend, German Gent), a city of Belgium, standing on the rivers Scheldt and Lys, whose numerous branches traversing the town form canals in all directions, and so intersect each other as to partition the town into twenty-six islands, which are connected by forty-two large and forty-six small bridges. The number of fine promenades forms another striking and pleasing feature of Ghent. Of these the most remarkable is the Coupure, formed by rows of trees extending along the Bruges Canal. In general the town is well built, and occupies a larger area than most European towns in proportion to the number of houses and the population. The general aspect of the city, without being highly picturesque, is very agreeable. When Charles V. was recommended by the cruel Alva to raze it to the ground on account of its rebellion, which had given him so much trouble, he is said to have taken him to the top of the Beffroi (Belfry Tower), and showing him the vast city spreading out beneath, asked, "How many skins of Spanish leather (Alva was a Spaniard) would it take to make such a glove (gant)? " thus rebuking the duke's atrocious suggestion. And truly interesting is the prospect from this elevation. The walls extend nearly eight miles in circumference, inclosing a large space interspersed with gardens, orchards, and corn-fields, as well as with canals and rivers. The number of the squares and width of the streets permit the eye to range over more than mere roofing and chimneys. Besides the towers and steeples of numerous churches, and the imposing pile of the town-hall close by, in the distance is seen the site and ruined walls of the citadel, erected by Charles V. to awe the rebellious citizens. Beyond this, if we continue the survey, lies the Great Béguinage, one of the largest nunneries in the world, with its streets and squares; and following the line of ramparts still further to the left near the Coupure promenade, the Maison de Force, a vast building resembling a wheel in its ground plan, with the prison-church steeple rising in the centre. At every turn in Ghent the eye is arrested by the picturesque appearance of the houses and the fantastic variety of gable-ends rising step-like, or ornamented with scrolls and carving. Most of the canals are bordered with magnificent quays, and some of them with beautiful rows of trees. The streets in general are wide and straight, and the greater number of them have been modernised. Almost all the houses are constructed on the Italian model, and are large, with ample portes-cochères, spacious court-yards, lofty stair-cases, tall windows, and frescoes and bas-reliefs occasionally on the exterior. Here and there, on the quays and in the narrower streets, are to be seen the gloomy old residences of "The men of Ghent," with their sharp tilted roofs and mullioned windows sunk deep into the walls. The most remarkable among the numerous squares are the Marché-du-Vendredi, where in early times the counts of Flanders were inaugurated and the trades unions used to assemble, but now the weekly market is held; the Kantur (the Flemish of "field") or Place d'Armes, a large square within the town, planted with trees and surrounded with large buildings, among which are the three clubs—the military, the nobles, and the merchants; the Plaine de St Pierre, especially used for reviews and military exercises; the corn market, near the centre of the town; the Place de Pharaidle, near the Marché aux Poissons, where the old turreted gateway called the Oudeburg or 's Gravensteen ("the Count's Stone," i.e. castle) still stands hard by; and the Plaine des Recollets, with its numerous elegant mansions and fine hotels. Near the Marché-du-Vendredi is the enormous cannon, eighteen feet long and ten in girth, and nearly three feet wide at the mouth, formed like Mons Meg in Edinburgh Castle, and surnamed Dulle Griete, "Mad Margaret."

Principal public buildings.—The Cathedral of St Bavon (Flem. Boef's), an enormous structure, in its exterior rather heavy, but in its internal proportions and decorations one of the most splendid churches in Belgium. It has a large crypt, a beautifully carved pulpit, many interesting monuments and fine paintings, and is surmounted by an elegant tower 272 feet high. It was founded in 944; the choir and crypt were rebuilt in 1228; and the whole was finished in the beginning of the sixteenth century. It was at first dedicated to St John; but in 1540 received the name of St Bavon, when Charles V. caused to be removed to it the collegiate chapter of the abbey of St Bavon; and in 1560 the church was constituted a cathedral. The choir and transepts are lined with black marble, and the balustrades are of white or variegated marble, in the Grecian style; but these, though elegant, are very unfit for a Gothic church. The gates of the chapels are of brass, and every vacant space is ornamented with a painting or a statue. The arms of the knights of the Golden Fleece are affixed over the choir at a considerable elevation. The last chapter of this order was held here by Philip II. of Spain in 1559. The high altar is adorned with a statue of St Bavon in his ducal dress, and in front of it are four tall copper candlesticks which belonged to Charles I., and still bear the royal arms of England. The twenty-four chapels of this cathedral contain pictures of the highest excellence. The most ancient church in the city is that of St Nicholas, but it is now much altered by conflagrations and repairs. Other churches worthy of mention are St Michael's, an elegant light structure on the bank of the Lys, in the centre of the city; the parish church of St James, and many others, some of which are very ancient, and mostly all contain pictures and sculptures of great excellence. The only Protestant place of worship is the English church, on the Braband Dam. The university of Ghent is an elegant modern edifice, with a noble Corinthian portico after the model of the Pantheon at Rome, and founded by William I., king of Holland, in 1826. The museum of natural history is extensive, but it has no collections of any remarkable excellence. The library contains upwards of 60,000 volumes, and the number of students averages 350. Not far from the Beffroi stands the Hôtel-de-Ville, with two

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Combien il fallait de peaux d'Espagne pour faire un jour de cette grandeur? Ghent façades in totally different styles of architecture, having been built at intervals between 1480 and 1620, according to several different plans. The Beffroi or Belfry Tower, which originally served as a watch-tower, and contained the tocsin-bell, is one of the most ancient buildings in the town; and dates from A.D. 1182. To be allowed to erect a belfry was one of the earliest privileges obtained by the citizens of Ghent, hence they long regarded this tower as a monument of their power and wealth. The gilt dragon-weathercock on the top of it was a trophy brought from Bruges in 1382, on the conquest of that town by the men of Ghent under Philip van Artevelde.

The cotton manufacture is extensively carried on in Ghent, employing about L1,800,000 of capital, engaging upwards of 20,000 persons, and annually producing about 1,000,000 pieces of plain and printed calicoes. Sugar-refining is also extensively carried on. The other important manufactures are common and table linens, flannels, serges, woollen cloths, silks, ribbons, lace, thread, hosiery, wax-cloth, oil, chemicals, armour, mathematical, physical, and surgical instruments, hardware, bronze and crystal, carriages, paper, tobacco, blue, starch, delft, &c. The important branches of trade are in corn, oil, seeds, Flemish linens, and wine. About 20,000 pieces of linen are exposed for sale every Friday, and the annual fairs are very numerously frequented, besides the horse fairs held in Mid-Lent and on 23d July. The great general fair is held in August. The governor of the province resides in Ghent, which is also the seat of a tribunal of first resort, as well as of a court of appeal, which has jurisdiction over all the province of Flanders. Ghent also gives title to a bishop, and is the headquarters of the first of the four divisions of the army of Belgium.

The Casino, whose destination is social, literary, and scientific, is a handsome building standing near the Coupure. The new theatre, in the corner of the Place d'Armes, is a fine erection, containing magnificent concert and ball rooms, and cost the town L1,000,000. Besides these public buildings may be named, as worthy of notice, the Palais de Justice and the post-office. The modern citadel is situated on Mont Blandin, at the end of the elevated ground on which the western part of the city stands. It commands the course of the Scheldt and the Lys, and is one of the chain of fortresses defending the Belgian frontier. Ghent communicates with the sea by the Terneuzen Canal, a grand canal which enters the Scheldt at Terneuse. This confers on the city all the advantages of a seaport; vessels drawing seventeen feet water can unload in the basin under its walls; and at Sas van Gent, fifteen miles north of the city, there are sluices by means of which the whole country could be laid under water. The railways from Ostend to Liège and Brussels, and from Amiens to Amsterdam through Antwerp, pass through Ghent.

The origin of Ghent is uncertain. Tradition ascribes it to the Vandals, who, in their irruption into Belgium, built a fort, named from them Vanda, afterwards changed into Ganda, whence Gandavum Castrum, which seems to be borne out by the existence of a fort on the left bank of the Scheldt, within Ghent, still bearing the name of Vandelaars Kasteel (Vandal's Castle). In the seventh century it is first mentioned as a town, but seems not to have acquired much importance till the twelfth, when its fortifications were completed, and it occupied only the space between the Scheldt and the Lys. At the end of the thirteenth century, however, it had become nearly as large as at present, so large indeed as in some measure to justify the pun of Charles V.—Je mettrais Paris dans mon Gand (gant). About 630 A.D., Dagobert sent St Amand to Ghent to convert its inhabitants from paganism. This saint founded two monasteries in honour of St Peter—one on St Peter's Mount, and the other near the Antwerp Gate. In process of time the second of these monasteries became richly endowed by some of the wealthier converts, among whom was one St Bavon, whose name became attached to this part of the city as well as to the abbey, of which some parts of the ruins may still be seen. Baldwin Ironarm, first Count of Flanders, built a fortress at Ghent, which was called 's Gravensteen (Count's Castle); and he as well as his successors encouraged persons skilled in manufactures, especially of linen and woollen. The Flemish nobles, about the end of the twelfth century, sold their possessions to their vassals in order to have the means of equipping themselves for the crusades. By this means the vassals became enfranchised; and the inhabitants of the Flemish towns, at the same time, having already become wealthy by their extending trade and improving manufactures, were enabled to purchase important commercial and political privileges, which were the foundation of the wonderful prosperity and liberty enjoyed by these communities during the middle ages. It was under these favourable circumstances that the "Men of Ghent" established their form of municipal government. They adopted a public seal, established a court of justice, elected sheriffs, joined the association of the Hanse Towns, and obtained the free navigation of the Rhine from the emperor Frederick I. In 1180 Ghent obtained a charter from Count Baldwin of Hainault, with great privileges, and became the capital of Flanders. Under these favourable circumstances so rapidly did Ghent increase in wealth and population, that by the end of the thirteenth century it surpassed the capital of France. At the commencement of the fifteenth century, in time of war, Ghent furnished 20,000 armed men, and had upwards of 40,000 engaged in the woollen manufactures alone. And many were the proofs furnished by the artisans and manufacturers of Ghent that these peaceful occupations in nowise diminished their valour. With increasing wealth and free institutions they waxed turbulent, and being led on by Jacques van Artevelde and his son Phillip (1332–1382), they raised frequent insurrections against the counts of Flanders, and during the succeeding century against the dukes of Burgundy. To this unfortunate spirit of turbulence and dissension, however, not only the city of Ghent but other large Flemish towns must trace their subsequent decline. Charles V. was born here in 1500, and eighteen years afterwards succeeded to the most extensive monarchy that had existed in Europe since the time of Charlemagne. The site of the palace in which he was born is now occupied by the Cour des Princes, a recently formed street. During his reign the city had a population of 175,000, inhabiting 35,000 houses. In 1557 Maria the sister of Charles V., who then governed the Netherlands, demanded from Flanders an extraordinary subsidy of 1,200,000 gold florins, of which Ghent was to raise one-third; but the inhabitants having already been heavily taxed in order to aid the emperor in his war with France, refused to comply with this new demand, and attempted resistance, but were immediately reduced to submission. The sad consequence of this ineffectual attempt on the part of the citizens was that Charles V. deprived them of all their valuable privileges, besides confiscating the property of many of the leaders in the revolt, and condemning others to death. Not only so, but above all this the citizens had to pay for the erection of a citadel to keep them in bondage. On the formation of the confederation for the expulsion of the Spaniards from the Netherlands, a congress was convened in Ghent; and the document known as "the Pacification of Ghent" was publicly signed by the confederates met in the Town-Hall, Nov. 8, 1576. Three days after, the Spanish garrison in the citadel capitulated to the citizens. Though this citadel was afterwards nearly destroyed (1584), yet parts of it may still be seen near the railway station towards the east of the city. But again, unfortunately, did Ghent submit to the Spanish dominion. by signing the capitulation of Sept. 17, 1584. On this disastrous occasion one-third of the inhabitants left the town, and the citadel was rebuilt. The Belgian provinces in 1598 were severed from the dominion of Spain in favour of Isabella, daughter of Phillip II., wife of Albert, son of the emperor of Germany. After a siege of six days, Louis XIV., in 1678, took Ghent. Under the French, as well as afterwards during the campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough and the commotions of the French Revolution, it suffered much; but the advantages of its position, as well as the intelligence and industry of its citizens, seem to render it superior to all calamities. From 1792 till the overthrow of the power of Napoleon, Ghent was the capital of the department of the Scheldt. In 1814 Flanders became part of the kingdom of the Netherlands; and the same year the treaty of peace was signed here between Great Britain and the United States of North America, which put an end to the revolutionary war. In 1815, on the return of Napoleon from Elba, Louis XVIII. took refuge in Ghent; and in the revolution of 1830, this city with the rest of Flanders was comprised in the new kingdom of Belgium. The city seems now as prosperous as ever, and is increasing in population as well as in all the elements of wealth and power.

Ghent stands in Lat. 51. 3. 12. N., and Long. 3. 43. 51. E., at the intersection of the railways connecting Lille with Antwerp, and Ostend with Malines, from which towns it is respectively distant 42, 32, 38, and 33 miles. The population in 1851 was 106,704.