Music Drum at the Belfry of Ghent
We finally got a chance to climb the Belfry of Ghent, the tallest Belfry in Belgium and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites listing. The exterior of the tower is very impressive as it emits and air of elegance. I think it is more the design of the tower which somewhat resembles a castle. There is a staircase to climb up the tower. But rather than a monotonous climb to the top. There are floors in along the way to see some exhibits. One floor had some figures of dragons which have come to represent Ghent. I guess that was the art floor.
Timing Mechanism at the Belfry of Ghent
The next floor is probably even more interesting. There was very large cylinder on its side. It had nubs, a lot of them which protrude from the surface of the cylinder. I know I have seen something like this before, it is the same as those music boxes which you wind up and they make sound when the nubs release a piece of metal which corresponds to a note. There is no metal here but instead it is connected to the bell system which apparently the belfry still has. The bells toll regularly and it follows the music which is encoded in the drum. There is a timing mechanism to the right of the drum as well which ensures that the music plays on time. I wasn’t sure of the timing the music since we waited for the music to play but it didn’t. However, when we got out of the belfry it did play and it was an amazing sound to hear. To think that there are still places in the world where the bell still tolls.
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