The Patershol

The Plotersgracht is part of Ghent's oldest neighborhoods: The Patershol.

Today, the beautiful Patershol, with its authentic medieval street plan, is the culinary center of the city.

There were even plans to completely rebuild this area. Fortunately, this old weaving district still consists of a dense network of narrow, small streets.

By the 10th century, a port had formed on the left bank of the Leie. The area was mentioned as 'novum castrum', which ultimately resulted in the Gravensteen.

When the Council of Flanders, the highest court for all of Flanders, was seated in the Gravensteen in the 14th century, beautiful houses were built in the Patershol for the magistrates and lawyers. They would find their place here for the next four centuries. When the Council of Flanders moved out of the Gravensteen at the end of the 18th century, the lawyers and magistrates also moved out of the Patershol. It was time for the workers to move in. In every room of every house lived a working-class family. The Gravensteen had indeed become one of the many factories in the area.

At the end of the 19th century, the factory in the Gravensteen was closed for safety reasons. The workers left the neighborhood, and the Patershol quickly became one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city. If you didn't live there or didn't know anyone, it was safer not to walk through. All the riffraff of Ghent lived there together. One bad café next to another and daily fights. It was a red-light district, known for its houses of ill repute, where even the police preferred not to visit. The neighborhood was quite isolated, and the solidarity among the residents was enormous. No one had ever heard or seen anything: everyone protected everyone. In search of the most notorious character in the whole Patershol, you end up with Mr. Stampaert from the Plotersgracht. Mr. Stampaert lived for 43 years in this neighborhood and during those 43 years he spent 40 years in prison. He barely had time to do something wrong before he was locked up again.

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