Mr Monkey looked up at the tall tower of the cathedral as he scampered across the square, then slipped in through the front doors. He found himself in a magnificently tall building, built between 1353 and 1536 on top of a Romanesque church from 1038. At the time it was built, it was called St John's, but the name changed in 1540 when Charles V closed down St Bavo's abbey, and all the canons moved to St John's. Mr Monkey scampered around a bit, comparing the rows of plastic chairs in the nave with the fine decorations.
You can read about the cathedral at the Gent Online website and about St Bavo (or Bavon, or Baaf) at the Catholic Forum website.
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Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 21 November 2006