The Ghent International Exposition of 1913 (Dutch: Wereldtentoonstelling van 1913 Gent, French: Exposition universelle et internationale de 1913 Gand) was a world's fair held in Ghent, Belgium, from 26 April to 3 November 1913.[2]
A number of buildings were completed for the occasion. Notably, Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station was completed in 1912 in time for the exposition,[3] and was situated opposite the new hotel, Flandria Palace.[4] A park, Citadelpark, was redesigned for the fair. The exposition was held on an area of 130 hectares (320 acres), which was larger than Expo 58 in Brussels.[5] Various Belgian cities had a pavilion and an artificial town, called "Oud Vlaenderen" (Old Flanders) was created.[6]
Panorama of the exposition of 1913 by Armand Heins
The four sons of Aymon statue, depicting Reinout, Adelaert, Ritsaert and Writsaert on their horse, Beyaert, was erected on the central approach avenue to the exposition.[7]
In preparation for the exhibition, renovations were made in the centre of Ghent, including a large number of houses on the Graslei.[8][9] Some years beforen the neo-gothicSt Michael's Bridge had been built to provide visitors to the exhibition with a vantage point to view the town,[10] the post office[11] and the Korenmarkt (Wheat Market) had been built, and the carved heads now arrayed around it represented the rulers who attended the exhibition (including Florence Nightingale).[10] The construction of the exhibition was controversial and ended on the eve of World War I with serious debts.[12]
^ abWilliam Whyte (ed.), Ghent Planning Congress 1913: Premier Congrès International et Exposition Comparée des Villes (Abingdon and New York, 2014), p. viii.
^Davy Depelchin, "The Ghent Universal and International Exhibition of 1913: Reconciling Historicism, Modernity and Exoticism", in Cultures of International Exhibitions 1840-1940, edited by Marta Filipova (Farnham, 2015), p. 185. Partial preview on Google Books.
^"Ghent 1913". History. The Side Isle. 31 August 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
