Time is up for the long-serving and iconic cobblestones of the Ghent Veldstraat . Asphalt is being laid while works are undertaken to renew the tram line. A complete renovation of Ghent’s most important shopping street will follow later. No new cobblestones are planned. The Veldstraat is one of the busiest shopping streets in the country. Up to 8 million people visit it every year. It’s a street with an exceptionally rich history. (The video above shows renovation work in 1984).
Erstwhile farmland along the River Leie (Lys)
The Veldstraat or ‘Field Street’ in English has not always been a cobbled street. When first mentioned, there was not even a street. At that time, it was at most a country road. The area lay outside the then residential centres, on the fertile banks of the River Leie. This was agricultural land.
Today, the street’s name, ‘Field Street’ in English, still refers to that agricultural past. In those days the River Leie still snaked through the city. What is now the Korenmarkt was probably once an arm of the river. It disappeared when the Leie was straightened and the Graslei and Korenlei were created.
The Veldstraat became an urban area from the 12th century onwards. From the 14th century, stone houses for wealthy citizens were built here, often with plots of land around them. The alleys opening onto Veldstraat reflect the plot boundaries of this time. The street evolved further in the 15th century.
A 16th century map.© KBR – Gravure van Braun en Hogenberg (1572)
A tsar, a French king on the run and William I
The street changes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some large stone houses disappear and are replaced by large and imposing city palaces: the Hotel d’Hane-Steenhuyse, the Hotel Clement and the Hotel Schamp.
They set the stage for important world events. The first mansion, which incidentally still exists today and can still be visited, hosted the Tsar of All the Russias, France’s King Louis XVIII, who was on the run at the time, and King William I of the Netherlands, at a time Belgium still formed part of his kingdom.
Hotel Schamp© Archief Gent
The Hotel Schamp was where a US delegation stayed in the run-up to the Treaty of Ghent, a peace agreement between the US and the UK in the early 19th century. The building was later divided in two and is still used as a storefront today.
Wineries, chocolates and regional television
The transformation from a mansion to a retail outlet is no surprise. The Veldstraat became a shopping street from the 19th century onwards, with bookshops, coffee and wine houses. The horse tram, from 1874 onwards, made the street more easily accessible. Even then there were cobblestones.
The street was widened in 1886; a few years later, the legendary Bloch Bakery opened here. Department stores Innovation and Grand Bazaar later followed. At Tearoom Fritz, the Greek-German Daskalides Family laid the seeds for a praline empire (including Leonidas).
The Veldstraat was also in demand for an afternoon or evening out. There were several cinemas, which, among other things, showed the very first regional news broadcasts.
The modern view
After World War II, the economy returned to growth and the Veldstraat became very busy. The shops became more international too. Big brands installed department stores attracting more visitors and much busier traffic.
1941, a first colour photo of the street.© Agfacolor, collectie Korneel Bostyn
At the time, not only trams, now electric ones, but also cars, drove among the shoppers. By 1984, it was decided to turn the street into a pedestrian traffic-free precinct (see video top of page). The street was once again narrowed and only trams have been able to pass through since then.
The street forms part of Ghent’s main commercial axis where an average of 680,000 people shop every month. That makes 8 million shoppers a year.
But now it’s time for a new facelift
40 years later, the Veldstraat is in need of another facelift. The tram tracks and the cobblestones will be removed. After the renovation work, the tram will return but the cobblestones are gone for good. The city fathers want to turn the shopping street into a more attractive environment with a tram line that has been completely reconstructed too.
This is what the Veldstraat should look like one day.© Stad Gent
