The Dulle Griet of Ghent

Dulle Griet is a monumental iron bombard located in the city of Ghent. Because of the original red color, the gun was traditionally also called Rode Duyvele old Flemish for Red Devil. The bombard dates from 1431 and was probably made by Jean Cambier, the major arms supplier to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. She was taken in 1578 along with other weaponry from the city of Oudenaarde and brought to Ghent to be used in the fight against the Spaniards. Whether the gun was stolen or sold is unclear.

The bombard is made of wrought iron rods around which iron hoops were laid. With a length of 5,025 meters and a mass of 12 250 kg, the canon was one of the biggest bombards of its time. The original mass has been possible up to 12,500 kg, but over the centuries the total mass decreased by rusting. The canon could bombard projectiles with a diameter of 64 cm and an estimated mass of 295 kg. The wooden trestles where Dulle Griet originally rested on were replaced in 1783 by decorated brackets of bluestone. Since 1943 the Dulle Griet is a protected monument. The square where the gun is on is called Grootkanonplein, meaning Big gun square.

Belgian kids got to drink beer during their school lunch

There are almost 800 different kinds of beer in Belgium. One kind was very popular till the70's, it was even given to kids at school during their lunch break. Beer to kids? You must be kidding! Well, let's go a bit further into this. The beers we are talking about were so-called table beers, a kind of beer that was specially made for people who can't drink alcohol. So it's was a kind of alcohol-free beer, a kind, because there was some alcohol in it. between 1 and 4 percent alcohol. The most popular table beer was Piedboeuf, it had 1.1 percent alcohol in it and there was a lot of sugar added to make it as sweet as Coca-Cola. A good marketing strategy made that it was well distributed in almost all schools in Belgium. The reason was that it would be very healthy for them, because of the natural ingredients and of course the sugar. It would make them grow fast and strong. It would even be good for pregnant women and for women that were breastfeeding their baby'

How the Belgians founded New York

In order to avoid any confusion in this story, it is important to know that in the sixteenth century, the Netherlands covered a part of northern France and Lorraine, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the present Netherlands. Its inhabitants were called the Belgians, and the maps represented the country in the shape of a lion: the "Leo Belgicus". Besides, numerous maps from the sixteenth century showed this territory under the name of Belgium. The latter failed into disuse for the benefit of the Netherlands and only reappeared in 1789 on the occasion of the first Belgian revolution. In 1831 Belgium became an independent country. Today Belgium is a lot smaller and is divided into two big regions mostly based on the language they speak in that particular region. In the north, there is Flanders where they speak Flemish (Dutch) and in the south, there is the Walloon part where they speak French. Almost in the center and between the two parts is the region of the capital Brussels.

Belgium has the largest chocolate factory in the world

The largest chocolate factory in the world is located in Wieze, Belgium. Barry Callebaut produces around 270,000 tonnes a year, from cocoa bean to chocolate, making it the largest chocolate supplier in the world. Picture by Pixabay In Wieze you will also find the first of the seventeen Chocolate Academy centers that have since been distributed all over the world. A completely new building was recently opened, making the Chocolate Academy center in Wieze the largest center in the world. Picture by Pixabay The Belgian chocolate sector exports its quality chocolate to the entire world. Two-thirds of both the industrial chocolate and the end products are exported abroad. That's because there is a Belgian chocolate code developed in 2007. The Belgian chocolate code must ensure that the term 'Belgian chocolate' is only used for chocolate that actually comes from Belgium.

Amazing Belgium

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