Situation within Ghent

Het Pand is located in the historic city center of Ghent and right next to the Leie one of the major rivers in the city. Shops, restaurants and hotels are very closeby. It is easily reachable by car, bike or public transport. When coming by car it is important to note that the building itself and the nearest parking (Sint-michiels parking) are both located in the low emission zone of Ghent, more information about the low emission zone can be found on https://stad.gent/en/mobility-ghent/low-emission-zone-ghent.

How to arrive by public transport

Het Pand is fairly easy to reach by public transport. The closest two train stations are Gent-Dampoort and Gent-Sint-pieters with Gent-Sint-Pieters the largest one.
It is possible to go on foot from either station resulting in a roughly 2km walk or about 30min. Another option is taking public transport.

From Gent-Sint-Pieters:
(Tickets can be bought via the machine at the perron)
Take tram 1 on perron 18 in the direction Wondelgem/Evergem one comes roughly every 7 minutes, get out off at the stop Korte Meer (6th stop)

Take tram 2 on perron 20 in the direction Melle Leeuw one comes roughly every 7 minutes, get off at the stop Oude Houtlei (7th stop)

From Gent-Dampoort:

Take bus 3, 38 or 39 from perron D1 or D2 until Gent Poel

History

Het Pand is one of the oldest buildings in use by the UGent. This might also be one of the last chances you get to visit Het Pand for such a workshop as the UGent will not use it anymore after the end of this year. Het Pand was originally constructed in 1201 to serve as a hospital, although the building quickly became too small for its purpose. It then served its purpose as a monastery for over six centuries, with a brief interlude where it was taken over to serve as a Calvinistic university for six years.

After the French revolution the monastery was eventually sold to a civil owner. They partly redesigned the building to be used as rooms for rent, used to store wine and the refectory was used a furniture market. This was the situation from 1823 until 1956. After the Second World War the building was deteriorated to such an extent that it was deemed untenable and discussion arose of demolishing it. However the Decree of 29.10.1956 put the building on the list of classified premises, which eventually led to the University of Ghent buying it in 1963. However in 1970 the University waived their property rights to the building to the benefit of the Belgian government. The University restored the building from 1971 until 1991 after which it started to serve its purpose as cultural center of the university, storing many musea collections and hosting celibrations, receptions, doctoral defenses and seminars.