- Boekentoren
The Boekentoren, (Dutch for "Book Tower") is a famous building located in
Ghent ,Belgium , designed by theBelgian architect Henry Van de Velde . It currently houses 3 million books (september 2006) of theGhent University library.Although the tower is only 64 metres high, it makes a huge impression as it is located on the highest point of the city called "de Blandijnberg". Van de Velde designed it in 1933 to be the fourth tower of the city completing the famous three towers of the
Middle Ages : the Saint-Nicolas Church, the Belfry and theSaint Bavo Cathedral . Together with these 3 towers, the so called "Tower of Wisdom" helped Ghent realising the dream the town had since it hosted theWorld's Fair in 1913 of creating a "Parade of Towers".During the Second World War the tower was taken by the
German army because of the great city view they had over there.Currently
fund is being raised for the necessary restoration.The
Belvedere of the book tower has been nominated by the Flemish Television CentreVRT for their program "Monumentenstrijd". Translated this means "Battle between Monuments" and was based on the popular BBC showRestoration (television) , which had many viewers inBelgium as well. A belvedère is an observation post on the roof with an immense panorama and a popular feature in large scale public buildings.ee also
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Google Books Library Project External links
* [http://lib1.ugent.be/cmsites/default.aspx?ref=AB&lang=NL_BO The Boekentoren on the site of the University library]
* [http://www.monumentenstrijd.be the site of the VRT show Monumentenstrijd]
* [http://www.visoog.be/viewer.php?lang=dut&hotspot=27 Boekentoren Belvédère in 360°]* [http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/ The European Library]
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