Ghent - city of spires
Bitter trading rival of Bruges
Ghent grew rich from the textile trade in the Middle Ages, importing wool from England and exporting cloth to the rest of Europe. Flax, and later on, cotton, continued to make it prosperous. And since the merchants spent their wealth on building, the city has a fine collection of buildings from the twelfth century right up to the twentieth century.
We navigate round the back streets, learning about
the patrician families who ran the city, and the guilds which regulated
trade. We visit the 
Castle of the Counts of Flanders - and see where the
Spanish Inquisition burned its victims.
We rejoice with the Unfree Shippers, who had to wait two hundred years to get their guild licence and promptly celebrated by building a guildhouse directly opposite their old rivals the Free Shippers. And saving the best for last, we visit the cathedral of St Bavo and Van Eyck's marvellous painting, The Mystic Lamb. You'll find out about the ideas behind the symbolism of the painting - but you'll also be amazed by its wonderful detail and misty lighting effects.
We also have a guide to other sights in Ghent.
Our Podtour™ starts and ends in the main square of Ghent - we start in front of the Belfry tower, and end in St Bavo's cathedral.
The cathedral provides an audio tour with your ticket to the Mystic Lamb. We hope our Podtour™ is a bit different - try them both, and see.
Price: £3.75
Other Podtours of Belgian cities include: