3 Best Sights in Ghent and the Leie, Belgium

Kortrijk's 13th-century beguinage ("begijnhof" in Dutch) was home to a religious group of women known as "beguines" who weren't bound by the Orders of nuns.  Although they were cloistered away, many had to earn their stay in the community through teaching and handicrafts, and the story of the beguinage runs alongside that of the city. It was plundered by the French, along with the rest of Kortrijk, in the aftermath of the 1382 Battle of Westrozebeke, and later repurposed as a field hospital when Europe descended into acrimony at the end of the 18th century. It was even taken out of the hands of the beguines for a period, when inns and brothels moved in, much to the distaste of the Grand Mistress. By 2013, the final beguine in Belgium had died and an era ended. Only recently has the 35-year-long project to restore the cluster of whitewashed town houses and chapel that makes up the beguinage been completed, and it remains perhaps the finest example of its kind in Belgium. Visits are free; there is a new museum in the St. Anna room but this is largely in Dutch, so audio guides (€2) are well worth the small outlay.  

This magnificent row of guild houses in the original port area is best seen from across the River Leie on the Korenlei (Corn Quay). The guild house of the Metselaars (Masons) is a copy of a house from 1527. The Eerste Korenmetershuis (the first Grain Measurers' House), representing the grain weigher's guild, is next. The oldest house of the group, the brooding, Romanesque Koornstapelhuis (Granary), was built in the 12th century and served its original purpose for 600 years. It stands side by side with the narrow Renaissance Tolhuis (Toll House), where taxes were levied on grain shipments. No. 11 is the Tweede Korenmetershuis (Grain Measurers' House), a late-Baroque building from 1698. The Vrije Schippers (Free Bargemen), at No. 14, is a late-Gothic building from 1531, when the guild dominated inland shipping.

There are three beguinages ("begijnhof" in Dutch) in Ghent, built centuries ago to house women (beguines) who lived lives of prayer and devoted themselves to charitable works but did not take religious vows. It sounds like something from another age, but the last beguine to live in Ghent only died in 2013. The best surviving example is Our Lady ter Hoyen, founded in 1235 by Countess Joanna of Constantinople. This is the smallest of the three and is protected by a wall and portal. The surrounding homes were built in the 17th and 18th centuries and are still organized in a medieval style, each holding a statue of a saint. Today, you can walk quietly through the main building and peek into the stone chapel—the houses are off-limits, with the larger ones leased for residential use. The smaller houses have become artists' workshops. Although entry is free, a gate closes to keep out nonresidents 10 pm--6:30 am.

The city's second beguinage, the UNESCO-listed Groot Begijnhof, is found on Van Arenbergstraat, west of the city center. At its peak, some 600 beguines lived there. The city's third and final beguinage is on Begijnhofdries, but its walls have long since come down.