Ghent-Home of a Medieval Wonder

The Gravensteen is a castle in Ghent originating from the Middle Ages. The name means "castle of the count" in Dutch. Elder Alexander is so good to send me pictures of a recent P-Day visit to this medieval castle. President Brubaker encourages missionaries to learn from the culture that surrounds us.

The present castle was built in 1180 by count Philip of Alsace ^[2] and was modelled after the crusaders castles the count encountered while he participated in the second crusade. Before its construction, there stood a wooden castle on the same location, presumably built in the ninth century. The castle served as the seat of the Counts of Flanders until they abandoned it in the 14th century. The castle was then used as a courthouse, a prison and eventually decayed. Houses were built against the walls and even on the courtyard and the stones of the walls were used to erect other buildings. At one time it even served as a factory. At the end of the 19th century, the castle was scheduled to be demolished.

In 1885 the city of Ghent bought the castle and started a renovation project. The newly built houses were removed and the walls and dungeon were restored to their original condition.

Elder DeMeester, Elder McCarlie, Elder Alexander, and Elder Brown were glad they live in the 21st Century after seeing the museum with various torture devices (and a guillotine) that were historically used in Ghent.