Ghent, Belgium

Born in Ghent, Charles V (or Charles Quint in French) was a rather oppressive ruler for the citizens of Ghent. Nonetheless, he was proud of his hometown saying that “Je peux mettre Paris dans mon Gand/gant”, translating to “I can fit Paris in my Ghent (or in my glove)”. This shows both the fact that Charles V was very proud of Ghent and that Ghent was a very large and influential city for that time. If it hadn’t been for Charles V’s crippling taxes, Ghent could have today even rivaled Paris.

Interesting fact, the name of the city likely comes from ganda, which means “where the rivers meet” in Celtic.

City TourGraventeen Castle

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