FACADES OF GRASLEI AND KORENLEI

The architectural ensemble of the Graslei and Korenlei, along the canal, formed the port of Ghent in the Middle Ages. It is the starting point for boat trips through the historic centre, the perfect postcard setting for Ghent. On the Graslei, in the foreground, you can see the former post office building (now converted into a shopping centre), built in a flamboyant neo-Gothic style at the end of the 19th century. Reflecting in the water of the Lys, from the post office, we discover six other remarkable houses.

House of the guild of the free craftsmen (1531). Like the masons' house further on, this is a gothic folly in the 16th century which already heralds the baroque. The use of the late Gothic style seems to illustrate the state of mind of a merchant class satisfied with the order of things, and which will spend three centuries opposing any social and economic change.

House of the grain measurers (1698). Here, in a still Renaissance taste, the baroque stone ornaments stand out against a background of darkened bricks.

The house of the tax collector (1682), Tolhuis, or Tonlieu, very small and wedged between two behemoths.

The Spijker or grain store (1200). Its Romanesque façade of grey stone with small double windows leans forward. It is the oldest building on the quay. Here, grain was stored as a right of passage for ships sailing on the Leie and Scheldt via Ghent.

Thefirst house of the wheat measurers (1435). In Flemish Renaissance style, alternating pink brick and white stone frames. At the beginning of the 15th century, the wheat scorers did not yet have the need to use the sumptuous display of prosperity of the free craftsmen or the masons to counteract the decline that had begun a century later.

House of the masons' guild (1912). For the World Exhibition in Ghent in 1913, the city decided to build a reconstruction of the 16th-century masons' guild house, which was originally located near the St. Nicholas church. The facade rises between the vertical ribs which end in columns supported on the volutes of the gable.

Opposite the Graslei, on the Korenlei, were once inns and large patrician residences. Whereas the Graslei is characterised by grey stone, dark brick and white stone frames, the Korenlei alternates between ochre or pink plaster, blonde stone and brick.