A trio of mighty towers. A historic castle with a dark past. A world-famous altarpiece that’s survived theft, world wars, and plenty more turmoil. The city of Ghent, Belgium has all of this and much more. During my visit to…
Grand city squares lined with glittering gold buildings. Fields dotted with centuries-old windmills. Ancient houses leaning toward the canals below. All this and much, much more in the small countries of Belgium and the Netherlands. These neighboring countries are absolutely…
The Ghent Altarpiece: one of Europe’s great artistic masterpieces, with a wild history to boot. Dating to the 1400s, this large painting is a complex series of 20 panels depicting a variety of people and scenes, including angels, Adam and…
Europe’s Mennonite history is a complicated subject. Long ago, as the Protestant Reformation picked up steam in Zurich and elsewhere, certain 16th-century radicals believed the reformers didn’t sufficiently adhere to Biblical principles with their new theology. Among other issues, these…