Ghent is a city of rebels. It's been ruled by Spain, Austria, France and Germany. But it has always rebelled.
The strangest revolt happened on 16 November 1949, when 136 Ghent students protesting a small rise in the beer tax stormed the Gravensteen.
They locked themselves inside the ancient castle walls and hurled rotting fruit and smoke bombs down from the battlements as the local police tried to expel them.
The fire brigade eventually recaptured the twelfth-century stone fortress using long ladders and fire hoses.
The siege is celebrated every year on 16 November when a noisy student procession marches through the city.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
