Saint Bavo's Abbey

The ruins of Saint Bavo's Abbey are defined by a long, weathered stone wall that historians identify as the oldest standing wall in Ghent. This site, established in the seventh century by the missionary Saint Amand, once stood at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers as a powerful religious and economic center. Today, the footprint of the former Romanesque church is outlined by tall, green hornbeam columns that stand in place of the original stone pillars, creating an open-air memorial to the structures that once rose here.