Construction work on Spaanskasteelplein in Ghent has uncovered the remains of a medieval quarter that had been buried for nearly five centuries beneath the site of the city’s former Spanish castle.
Excavations revealed a cemetery containing more than 200 skeletons, stone church foundations, military quarters, household items and organic materials preserved inside an ancient waste pit. The discovery provides a rare, multi-layered look at an area in Ghent that was deliberately destroyed in 1540, after which a castle was built directly on top of it, enclosing much of the former settlement under its walls for hundreds of years.
Why did the Emperor order the destruction of this Ghent neighborhood?
The area now being excavated was located near the Abbey of Saint Bavo, before the Holy Roman Emperor and Spanish King Charles V ordered the demolition of the area in 1540. According to VRT NWS, the Belgian public broadcaster, the castle was built after the people of Ghent rebelled against high taxes, and Charles responded by having the rebels walk barefoot through the city with nooses around their necks as punishment, an event that gave the people of Ghent the perpetual nickname of Noose Bearers.
The Spanish castle that replaced the monastery area served as a stronghold meant to keep tabs on the city’s population, before it was eventually demolished in the 19th century to make way for the Sint Makarios neighborhood that occupies the site today.
A cemetery containing men, women and children
Excavations uncovered more than 200 skeletons arranged in rows alongside the remains of a church, a burial pattern generally associated with a civil parish cemetery rather than one specially built for a castle garrison.
The tombs are thought to date between the 13th and 16th centuries, making them before or around the period when the surrounding area was devastated. Some of those buried may have had connections to the religious life at the monastery of Saint Bavo, while others likely lived in the neighborhood and worshiped in the nearby church that stood next to the cemetery.
Traces of soldiers who later occupied the castle
Above the older medieval layers, archaeologists have also discovered walls dating back to military quarters used during the Spanish fortress period.
Leading archaeologist Robbie Vervoort told VRT NWS that it is likely that Spanish soldiers remained in these neighbourhoods, adding that many traces point to their presence at the site, although more research is still needed to confirm the full extent of this occupation. Among the richest finds was a cesspit, an underground chamber once used to collect human waste and discarded household items, which Vervoort described as an archaeological treasure, noting that objects thrown into pits like these are often exceptionally well preserved over time.
What the waste pit reveals about daily life in the castle
According to VRT NWS, archaeologists recovered glass vessels, wine bottle fragments, animal bones, and plant seeds and pollen from inside the cesspit. Vervoort explained that animal remains, seeds and plant pollen extracted from the pit should help researchers determine what the soldiers stationed in the castle actually ate, providing a rare and detailed window into the diet and daily habits within the castle walls centuries after they were built.
Preserved wood and ancient layers beneath the castle
The site’s waterlogged soil also preserved a wooden bridge that crossed the castle’s inner moat. Since saturated ground restricts the oxygen that fungi and microorganisms need to break down wood over time, they are the same conditions that have helped preserve organic materials within the cesspit for centuries. Beneath the medieval layers, archaeologists also found Roman ceramics, metal objects, household pottery and flint tools, suggesting that people were using this same area of land long before the Spanish monastery or castle area was built.
The Monastery of Saint Bavo and its long history predates the castle
According to Visit Ghent’s official history of St. Bavo’s Abbey, the abbey’s origins go back to the 7th century, when Amand of Ghent founded a religious community there as part of an attempt to convert the local population to Christianity. The monastery later grew into a larger complex containing a Romanesque church and reached the height of its influence during the 11th century. Visit Gent notes that part of what is now considered the city’s oldest surviving wall still stands on the abbey site, although the original church itself no longer exists, its outline today only defined by shrubbery and a row of horn pillars.
What happens to the site now?
According to VRT NWS, excavation at the site finished in early March 2026, and new apartments are now planned for the property. However, part of the plot will be deliberately kept free of vaults so that any remaining archaeological material remains below the surface undisturbed. Vervoort described this decision as leaving the untouched part in place for the future, expressing confidence that archaeologists working decades from now will have much better tools to study everything still buried under this part of the site.
