The medieval ports of Bruges and Ghent, presented on map
Brugge, Belgium
Bruges and Ghent are two medieval towns not be presented anymore. But what in fact do we know about the port operations in both cities? What did they consist of? What differences and similarities were there between the two sister cities?
On the basis of two historical maps, Marcus Gerard Map of Bruges 1562 and the Panoramic View of Ghent 1534, we try to read some aspects of water activities. Both maps indeed show us scenes of dams and ships, and dozens of other small particulars of daily life on and along watercourses.
Frank Gelaude is geologist and soil scientist, affiliated since 2000 as assistant lecturer in the Master of monuments and conservation, Antwerp University. He is part-time working as a geography teacher at the Royal Atheneum of Voskenslaan, Ghent and is working on a doctoral research on the Ghent waterways.
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