Hotels near Belfry of Ghent

The 91-metre Belfry of Ghent, built between 1313 and 1380, is the tallest of the city's three medieval towers and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France listing. Originally a symbol of civic power (as opposed to the church's Cathedral or the count's castle), the belfry housed the city bells and the town charters in an iron chest called the Secret. The gilded copper dragon that has crowned the spire since 1377 was blown down four times in five centuries, and the current one dates from a full restoration completed in 1985.

Entry is EUR 11 and includes a lift most of the way up followed by two short flights of stairs to reach the viewing platform at 66 metres. From the top the three-tower alignment - St Nicholas's, the Belfry, St Bavo's - is visible right below you, and on clear days you can see the Ghent University Book Tower designed by Henry van de Velde. The 54-bell carillon still plays every 15 minutes; if you time your visit for the Sunday noon carillon concert (April to September) you can watch the beiaardier at work.

Pro Tip: Go 30 minutes before sunset in summer - the light turns the sandstone facades of Graslei orange and you get the classic three-tower silhouette to the west. Cover your ears when the quarter-hour chimes ring - inside the tower they are physically painful at close range.