Gent: Excavations on Emile Braun square reveal pattern of medieval urbanism
29 January 2010
The City’s Archaeology Department examined the Emile Braun square, located between the St Nicolas Church and the belfry, in the heart of the medieval city. The archaeological intervention precedes the transformation of the square into a small sloping green and the construction of an open wooden hall, housing a bicycle shed, an elevator and a ‘grand café’ – all as part of the KoBra Project.
The excavations lasted from August till November 2009. They revealed a disappeared block of houses delineated by the former Korte Ridder street, Goudenleeuw square, Poelje market and Boter market.
Excavations
The basements of the houses were dated from the 13th till the 19th century. Most structures were made of brick, but the archaeologists discovered also pillars, sparing arches and walls made of lime stone. They belonged to the oldest stone houses in this block. Sand extraction pits with fillings from the 10th century onwards attest to the earliest phase of land use in this area. The archaeological remains point at successive waves of urbanism and architectural densification in this block, prior to its demolition in the 1960s.