Old Beguinage Saint Elizabeth
The beguinages in Flanders and the Netherlands are invariably oases of peace and quiet, where you can expect a beguine muttering at her door at any moment. In Ghent, two of the three beguinages have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Although the Oud Begijnhof Sint-Elisabeth, located in the Begijnhofdries in Ghent, is no longer walled and therefore just part of the city, the atmosphere remains unique. Today, the Old Beguinage of Sint-Elisabeth is known as “holy corner”, a place of tolerance, because it houses no less than three different churches: an Anglican, an Orthodox and a Protestant.
The open beguinage grew in the 13th century into what you can call a beguinage town, with a church, the house of the “granddame”, an infirmary, a chapel, more than a hundred beguines' houses, a bleaching meadow (grass area for bleaching linen) and an orchard. After the French Revolution and increasing industrialization, the residents moved to their new beguinage in Sint-Amandsberg in 1873.
Also visit the new orthodox church in the Sophie Van Akenstraat. Inside, the church was painted with frescoes according to the authentic Byzantine technique. The twelve Apostles are depicted on the facade with mosaics in round-arched niches. Divine facade art in Ghent
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