Its port, Zeebrugge, is an important center for fishing and European trade. In the city center’s Burg square, the 14th-century Stadhuis (City Hall) has an ornate carved ceiling. Nearby, Markt square features a 13th-century belfry with a 47-bell carillon and 83m tower with panoramic views.
Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes the settlements of Einigen, Hondrich, Faulensee, and Spiezwiler.
One of Belgium’s oldest cities and the historic capital of Flanders, Ghent was powerful, well-organized in its wealthy trade guilds, and virtually independent until 1584. Within its walls was signed the Pacification of Ghent (1576), an attempt to unite the Lowlands provinces against Spain. The Treaty of Ghent (December 24, 1814) marked the end of the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain.
Along with Brugge (Bruges) and Ypres, Ghent was one of the chief towns of the medieval county of Flanders. It owes its origin to the economic developments that occurred in Flanders in the 10th century, and the town sprang up on the banks of the Lys River at a spot under the protection of a nearby castle built by the counts of Flanders. Ghent grew rapidly in the 12th century, and by the 13th century it was one of the largest towns in northern Europe. Its astonishing prosperity was based on the manufacture of cloth; Ghent’s luxury cloths made from English wool were famous throughout Europe until the 15th century.
The Aare river is fed by rainwater and melting water from the Alps, and here it already has a decent size. The river is about 30 m wide and quite fast flowing. But the gorge is much narrower, typically about 10 m wide, and as a result the water flows faster and is quite deep. And if there is heavy rainfall in the catchment area or in spring during snowmelt the river has much more water and the level inside the gorge rises substantially.
About a century later, the monks were expelled here by Count William the Fourth of Holland. After this, the island quickly impoverished, the islanders were forced to live on mounds to protect themselves against the water.
These mounds are known here as wharves, a number of these wharfs are still inhabited. The many floods made farming impossible and fishing became the island’s main source of income. This came to an end with the arrival of the Afsluitdijk.
The Groppensteinschlucht is located in the Hohentauern national park near Obervellach in the region Kärnten, Austria.
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