William I of The Netherlands and his statue in Ghent, Belgium
King William I of The Netherlands
and his statue in Ghent, Belgium
People from Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, have not only the language
in common with citizens from The Netherlands but they also share some royal
history together.
Common royal history
From 1815 Belgium and thus Flanders, was a part of the United Kingdom of
the Netherlands. But not everybody was happy with this union it led to the
independence of Belgium in 1830.
However in Ghent, the capital of Eastern Flanders, the people were happy with
the reign of King William I of The United Kingdom of The Netherlands.
The Monarch founded the University of Ghent and he gave the order to create
the canal of Ghent-Terneuzen.
A statue
In 2015 (200 years after the formation of the United Kingdom of The Netherlands),
Ghent honoured King William I with a statue. This statue was erected on a beautiful
location at the Reep and was revealed on 20 October 2018.
The statue costed 25.000 euro and was paid by crowdfunding, gifts and from the
Flemish government and the Town council of Ghent.
A visit
It was a while since I visited Ghent and it was the first time, I could take pictures
from the statue of King William I of The Netherlands. As a lover of royal history
it was very nice to see the amazing statue on such a beautiful location.
Own pictures taken on 19 September 2020.
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