Ghent’s Castle Gravensteen was the most impressive castle we encountered during the two weeks in Europe. From the top of the castle one gets a nice view of Ghent.

We were told that the castle used to belong to the Count of East Flanders, who didn’t live there himself, however. What was most interesting, the castle was “lost” after middle ages: after losing it’s military significance it was sold to be used as a factory; workers houses were gradually attached to the outside walls, so that the castle eventually completely disappeared inside the block. Pictures from early 19th century show that the castle was completely invisible. The castle was later recovered with municipal funds and turned into a museum.