Archaeologists in Ghent may have uncovered the remains of a medieval city gate

The Ketelpoort or Kettle Gate stood on the Ketelvest—a defensive moat or water channel dug to connect the Rivers Scheldt and Leie. The Ketelvest waterway is said to have bubbled or churned like a boiling cauldron or 'ketel' in Dutch, where the waters met.

Following a summer break, archaeologists have now resumed excavations in the centre of Ghent. This is where Flanders’s busiest tram line is being rebuilt. Archaeologists are first carrying out excavations to find new traces of medieval Ghent before they are buried beneath the new tram line. The reconstruction began this spring and will take at least three years.

So far, the excavations have mainly yielded small finds, which confirm that the city began to expand systematically in this area around the 11th century. The ground has been disturbed by previous sewerage works, meaning that large structures are less well preserved. However, some were discovered at the Ketel Bridge.

Foundations made of Tournai limestone

Archaeologists found older masonry sewers, part of a cobbled surface and the foundations of a late medieval building, constructed from bricks nearly 30 centimetres long. Beneath these, they discovered what may be the remains of the city gate.

‘There was a foundation made of Tournai limestone. That material was used between the 11th and 13th centuries,’ says Robrecht Vanoverbeke of archaeology firm BAAC. ‘This may have been part of the Ketelpoort, a medieval gateway into the city.’

This theory is supported by an earlier report from 1990. At that time, city archaeologists carried out an inspection a few metres away, prior to the start of sewerage works. They noted the remains of a brick wall, which they linked to the Ketelpoort, based on a painting from 1534.

A place where two districts grew together

The Ketelpoort was one of the medieval gates in the first city wall. It consisted of an inner and an outer gate, connected by a bridge. The gate was demolished in 1780. The present-day Ketel Bridge stands on the same site.

In the early Middle Ages, Ghent consisted of separate settlements that gradually merged to form a single city. This also happened at the Ketelpoort. There, the settlements of the Sint-Pieters Village (centred around the abbey of the same name) and the area around the medieval harbour (the Graslei and the Korenlei) eventually merged. The fields and farmland in between gave way to built-up areas. Names such as ‘Veldstraat’ (Field Street) still bear witness to this.

Meanwhile, in the Zonnestraat, archaeologists have also uncovered remains of the façade of a stone medieval town house. Excavations are now continuing here. The ground has been much less disturbed than elsewhere, which raises hopes of even better finds.

The foundations of the Ketelpoort are now once again underground.