Hoogpoort

Belgium, Belgium

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Hoogpoort is most commonly known as a historic street in the centre of Ghent, Belgium, whose name means “High Gate” or “High Port” and which originated as an important high‑elevation road linking the old port and trading settlement with the inner city and the former castle area.

The street stretches from the Lange Munt to the Nederpolder and consists traditionally of three parts (Neder‑, Midden‑ and Opper‑Hoogpoort), connecting the former count’s domain with the Sint‑Janskerk and the town hall, and it has been a busy commercial and residential artery since at least the 13th century, mentioned as “in oppido supra port” in 1234.

Over the centuries the Hoogpoort was lined with guildhouses, particularly of the Sint‑Joris crossbowmen and the goldsmiths, as well as 18th‑century townhouses and later commercial buildings, and today it is a lively shopping and pedestrian street with many trend‑oriented boutiques, interior and fashion shops, cafés and restaurants, while its architecture still displays a mix of Gothic, Renaissance and later styles.

The name Hoogpoort also appears in other contexts: there is a Campus Hoogpoort that houses the central services of Artevelde University of Applied Sciences in Ghent, and a Kasteel Hoogpoort in Asse (Flemish Brabant) with its own park; in Mechelen, the former Brusselpoort gate was also known as Hoogpoort, but in most travel and city guides the word “Hoogpoort” refers to the historic Ghent street.