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9. From Ghent to Antwerp.
a. State Railway vid Dendermonde and Puers.
43 M. Rattway in 11/2-2 hrs. (fares 6 fr. 60, 4 fr. 50, 2 fr. 65 c.).
Ghent, see p. 53. — The line crosses the Scheldt. 11/4 M. Ledeberg;
2'/5 M. Meirelbeke. On the other side of the Scheldt is the quaint
chateau of Laerne, with towers dating from the 12th cent. (steam-
tramway to Ghent, see p. 78). 4M. Melle, the junction of the line
to Charleroi and Braine-le-Comte (R. 18). 6 M. Quatrecht. The train
follows the winding course of the Scheldt. — 81/2 M. Wetteren, the
junction of the line to Hamme (see below) and of steam-tramways
to (10 M.) Lokeren (p. 88) via Oordeghem (branch-line to Alost, p. 3)
and (13 M.) Sotteghem (p. 47). — At (101/) M.) Schellebelle our line
diverges from that to Brussels via Alost(R. 4a). 4121/2 M. Wichelen;
14M. Schoonaerde ; 161/, M. Audeghem, beyond which the train
crosses the Dendre, a navigable tributary of the Scheldt.
{8 M. Dendermonde, Fr. Termonde (20 ft.; Hot. de la Renais-
sance, R. 13/4, D. 2 fr.; Hot. dela Bourse, both in the Grand’ Place),
formerly a fortified town (40,100 inhab.), lies on the right bank of the
Scheldt (here crossed by a bridge) and on both banks of the Dendre.
Louis XIY. besieged this place in 1667, but was compelled to retreat,
as the besieged, by opening the sluices, laid the whole district under
water. Marlborough took it in 1706 after a bombardment of ten days.
On quitting the station we turn to the right, cross the moat to the left
after a few paces, and pass through the gateway of the inner fortifica~
tions. We turn to the left, then almost immediately to the right, and
proceed via the (10 min.) Marché-au-Lin (embellished with a bronze
statue of the Flemish poet, Prudens van Duyse; 1804-59) to the
(3 min.) Grand’ Place. To the right is the Hotel de Ville (formerly the
Cloth Hall), a building of the 14th cent., rebuilt in 1597, with a
belfry. Within are a few paintings. The old main guard-house, with
an octagonal tower, on the N. side of the square, is now the Museum
of Antiquities. The broad Rue de l’Eglise leads hence to the W. to
the (5 min.) Gothic church of Notre Dame, which contains two paint-
ings by Van Dyck: a *Crucifixion, with the Madonna, Mary Mag-
dalen, and St. Francis of Assisi (ca. 1630), and an Adoration of the
Shepherds (ca. 1632). The Romanesque font dates from the 42th
century. In front of the church is a bronze statue, by Fraikin
(1878), of De Smedt, the Jesuit missionary.
_ _From DENDERMONDE To Sr. Nicouas, vid Hamme, 131/2M., by railway
in 3/4 hr. (see p. 89); to Loxeren via Zele, 9M., in 1/2 hr. (see p. 78);
to ALost, 71/2 M., in 1/s-1/2 hr, (p. 8); and to Brusszxs, 20 M., vid Opwyck
(p. 3), Assche (p. 3), and Jette (p. 8), in 3/4-4 hr.
At (211/9 M.) Baesrode (Nord) the line to Malines diverges (see
p. 164). 24 M. St. Amand-by-Puers ; 28 M. Puers, where our line
crosses that from Terneuzen to Malines (p. 164). The train now
traverses a marshy district and crosses the Rupel, which is formed
about 2!/) M. to the E. by the union of the Dyle and the Nethe.
Bakpexer’s Belgium and Holland. 15th Edit, 6 |
