Instant Cities: Ghent

Ghent › Places and landmarks

St Peter’s Abbey

Sint-Pietersabdij

The abbey on the Blandijnberg hill was founded in the 7th century, by Saint Amand as the story goes, and grew into one of the richest in Flanders. The baroque church with its dome (1629-1720) is by Pieter Huyssens. The French dissolved the abbey in 1796; today it is an exhibition hall, with an abbey garden of vines and ruins behind its walls.

See it in 3D Watch the tour

St Peter’s Abbey stands on the Blandijnberg, the highest point of the old city, on the large Sint-Pietersplein. What you see first is the Baroque church of Our Lady of St Peter, with its stately front and great dome, which rises above the roofs from afar. Beside the church lie the former abbey buildings, around a cloister, with a refectory, a chapter house and cellars that are in places centuries old.

Today the abbey buildings are an exhibition hall, holding major shows on art, history and the world today. Behind the walls lies a hidden gem: the abbey garden. There you find a vegetable garden, fruit trees, a herb garden, the ruins of older abbey buildings and even a vineyard on the slope, a reminder of the monks who made wine here for centuries. It is one of the quietest spots in the city.

The Sint-Pietersplein in front is one of the largest squares in Ghent. It is used for funfairs, circuses, events and markets, and lies close to the university quarter and Citadelpark.

History

According to tradition, St Amand founded a monastery here in the 7th century, on the Blandijnberg overlooking the meeting of the Leie and the Scheldt. The abbey grew into one of the richest and most powerful in Flanders, with vast estates and a great library. For a long time it was the great rival of St Bavo’s Abbey on the other side of the city.

In the 9th century the abbey was sacked by the Vikings, but it was rebuilt. Counts of Flanders were buried here, and the abbey played a large part in the life of the city. It was badly hit by the iconoclastic fury of 1566. Afterwards it was rebuilt, and between 1629 and 1720 the present Baroque church rose, designed by the Jesuit architect Pieter Huyssens.

In 1796 the French revolutionaries abolished the abbey, as they did all monasteries. The monks had to leave and the property was sold. The buildings were later used as barracks, among other things. Only in the 20th century did they get a new role as a cultural centre and exhibition space. The abbey garden was restored and is now a public green heart in the city.

Going to see it

The abbey is on the Sint-Pietersplein, about fifteen minutes’ walk from the centre, or by tram to nearby. The abbey garden is usually free to enter during the day, with shorter hours in winter. For the exhibitions in the art hall you buy a ticket. The church is regularly open to visitors.

Combine a visit with a walk to Citadelpark, S.M.A.K. or the Museum of Fine Arts, all within walking distance.

More in Ghent

St Bavo’s CathedralBuilt from the 13th to the 16th century, with an 89 m tower. Inside hangs the Van Eyck brothers’ Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (1432), one of the most famous and most stolen paintings in the world. Its Just Judges panel, stolen in 1934, has never been found. BelfryThe town’s 91 m tower, begun in 1313. Ghent kept its charters of rights here, and watchmen looked out for fire and enemies. A gilded dragon keeps watch on top. With the Cloth Hall beside it, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. GravensteenThe castle of the Counts of Flanders, built in 1180 by Philip of Alsace. It later served as a court, a prison and even a cotton mill, and got its battlements back around 1900. In 1949 students occupied it, in protest against the price of beer going up. Graslei and KorenleiGhent’s medieval port, on both banks of the Leie. Boatmen unloaded grain here and the guilds built their houses along the quay. The Koornstapelhuis, the grey Romanesque grain store from around 1200, is one of the oldest houses in town. St Michael’s BridgeBuilt at the start of the 20th century, just before the 1913 World Fair. Look east to see Ghent’s three towers in a row: St Nicholas’, the Belfry and St Bavo’s. Behind you stands St Michael’s Church, whose tower was never finished. St Nicholas’ ChurchThe merchants’ church, from the 13th century, in blue-grey Tournai stone: Scheldt Gothic. Its tower sits right on the middle of the roof and doubled as a lookout, long before the Belfry stood. Today it also hosts concerts and exhibitions. City HallA city hall in two styles: ornate late Gothic on the Hoogpoort, sober Renaissance on the Botermarkt. Running out of money and the wars of religion kept halting the building work. The Pacification of Ghent, a peace between the Low Countries’ provinces, was signed here in 1576. VrijdagmarktThe square of markets, feasts and uprisings, where the Counts of Flanders were sworn in. In the middle Jacob van Artevelde, the brewer who led Ghent in 1338, points the way. Across the square stands Ons Huis, the big home of the socialist workers’ movement. Groot VleeshuisThe butchers’ covered meat hall, built from 1406 to 1419. Hams still hang drying under its impressive wooden roof. Today you can buy and taste East Flemish regional produce here. Graffiti StreetThe Werregarenstraatje: since the 1990s anyone may spray paint here, legally. The walls get a fresh layer of paint almost every week, so no two visits look the same. KouterGhent’s smartest square, once a field and a place for parades and archers’ feasts. There has been a flower market here every Sunday since the 18th century, with a brass band in the bandstand. The blue kiosk serves a drink to go with it. VooruitThe party hall of the socialist co-operative Vooruit, opened in 1914: workers came here to dance, for theatre and concerts, and to eat in the café. Artists rescued it from decay in the 1980s. Today it is the arts centre VIERNULVIER. Gent ZuidUntil 1928 the Zuidstation, Ghent’s first railway station, stood here. Today it is De Lijn’s hub: most city buses start and end here, and the trams pass on their way to the centre and Sint-Pieters. BlaarmeersenGhent’s sports and leisure park, by the Watersportbaan. On hot days the beach on the swimming lake is packed, and joggers run their laps round the 2.3 km rowing course. There is also a campsite, an athletics track and beach volleyball. MammelokkerLook above the door of this little house against the Cloth Hall: a young woman giving an old man her breast. It is the Roman legend of Pero, who nursed her father Cimon when he was left to starve in prison. When it came out, he was set free. The warders of the town prison, which was in the Cloth Hall’s cellars from 1742 to 1902, lived here. Mammelokker is Ghent dialect for breast-sucker. The relief dates from 1741, recarved by Jan Anteunis in 1962. Karel SabbebergGhent’s only mountain, some 30 metres high, and man-made. Until 2003 Ghent skied here on brush mats. In 2019 it was named after the ultrarunner Karel Sabbe, who ran up and down it thousands of times in training. Since 2009 a lookout tower on top looks out over the city. CuberdonsPurple cone-shaped sweets with a runny raspberry heart, sold from little carts on the Groentenmarkt. The tramsDe Lijn’s white and yellow trams, ringing their bells through the narrow streets of the old town. Gentse FeestenTen days every July when the whole old town becomes one of the largest street festivals in Europe. The cycling citySince 2017 cars can no longer drive straight across the centre, and bikes have taken over the streets.