Every Ghent University student, alumnus or employee has to cross them sometimes. And has undoubtedly cursed at them before: the slopes of Ghent. From the Sint-Kwintensberg over the Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat to the Plateau: we take you over some of the most famous (and trickiest) slopes around Ghent University campuses.
Sint-Kwintensberg
The Sint-Kwintensberg used to go by as Sint-Pieters-Vrouwenstraat. But the parish church that bore the name was demolished in 1799. Some 60 years later, the Sint-Kwintenskapel was built and so the street name also changed.
- Steepest part: 8,5%
- Length: 253 meter
- Average slope percentage: 6,1%
Jozef Plateaustraat
Named after the Belgian physicist and mathematician Jozef Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (1801-1883). He was a professor at Ghent University and invented the phenakistiscope, laying the foundations for film.
- Steepest part: 7,4%
- Length: 326 meter
- Average slope percentage: 5,3%
Hoveniersberg
Side street of Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat descending from the Blandijnberg to the faculty of Economics and Business Administration and the student house Therminal.
- Steepest part: 14%
- Length: 85 meter
- Average slope percentage: 7,2%
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat
One of Ghent's oldest roads. As a ridge along the Scheldt, it formed a connecting road between St Peter's and St Bavo's Abbey, two of Ghent's centres of origin.
- Steepest part: 11,4%
- Length: 507 meter
- Average slope percentage: 2,5%
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