Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical Guides — John Shaqi
Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical GuidesAllen, Grant
History
Cities of Belgium: Grant Allen's Historical Guides
Allen, Grant
Belgium -- Guidebooks
Walk past the ivy-clad outer wall of the =ruins= to the white house at
the corner of the street beyond it, where you will find the _concierge_
(notice above the door). One franc is sufficient tip for a party. The
_concierge_ conducts you over the building, which has a picturesque
cloister, partly Romanesque, but mainly 15th century. The centre of the
quadrangle is occupied by a pretty and neatly-kept garden of the old
sweet-scented peasant flowers of Flanders. The most interesting part of
the ruins, however, is the octagonal Romanesque =Baptistery= or “Chapel
of St. Macaire,” a fine piece of early vaulting, with round arches, very
Byzantine in aspect. The chapel rests on massive piers, and its
Romanesque arches contrast prettily with the transitional Gothic work of
the cloister in the neighbourhood. Within are several fragments of
Romanesque sculpture, particularly some *capitals of columns, with
grotesque and naïve representations of Adam and Eve with the Lord in the
Garden, and other similar biblical subjects. (Examine closely.) There is
likewise an interesting relief of St. Amand preaching the Gospel in
Flanders, and a man-at-arms in stone, of Artevelde’s period, removed
from the old coping of the Belfry.
We next go on to the Crypt, the tombs of the monks, the monastery
cellars, etc., where are collected many pieces of ancient sculpture,
some found in the ruins and others brought from elsewhere. The Refectory
at the end, which for some time served as the Church of St. Macaire, is
now in course of transformation into a local Museum of Monumental Art.
It contains some good old tombs, and an early fresco (of St. Louis?)
almost obliterated. But the garden and cloister are the best of the
place, and make together a very pretty picture. You can return by the
Quai and the Rue St. Georges, or by the Place St. Bavon and the
Archiepiscopal Palace. (The castellated building to the L., much
restored, near the Cathedral, known as the =Steen of Gérard le Diable=,
is the sole remaining example of the mediæval fortified houses in
Ghent.)
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