Hidden and little known places: Belgium

Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts

1/22/17

Gravensteen castle, Ghent, Belgium

The Gravensteen is a castle in Ghent originating from the Middle Ages. The name means "castle of the counts" in Dutch.The Gravensteen is situated at an altitude of 9 meters.

The present castle was built in 1180 by count Philip of Alsace and was modeled after the crusaders castles that Philip of Alsace 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.

1/14/17

Little known dolmens of Wéris, Belgium

The small village of Wéris (or Werix), ESE of Dubuy in the Belgian province of Luxembourg, has two of the country's very few megalithic tombs, and most of its menhirs.
Despite these being the village's main claim to fame, it is quite difficult to find the megaliths and natural features which form a ritual landscape - apart from Wéris Dolmen 1 which is by the roadside approaching from the north-west.

The Devil's Bed at the foot of the hill. Notice the smoothness of the horizontal stone. It is 2.45 m long, 1.45 m wide and 0.6 m high.It is possible that this rock has been vitrified. Vitrified rock from ancient cultures has been found all over the world. It is still a mystery how they did this.

11/7/16

Interesting street art

Les Voyageurs (Marseilles, France)

Mustangs at Las Colinas is a bronze sculpture by Robert Glen, that decorates Williams Square in Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. It is said to be the largest equestrian sculpture in the world.