The beguinages of Flanders and the Netherlands are always oases of calm and stillness, where you might still expect to see an old beguine mumbling her prayers in a doorway. Two of Ghent’s three beguinages have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Although the Old St Elizabeth Beguinage, in Begijnhofdries in Ghent, is no longer enclosed by a wall, making it simply part of the city, it still has a unique atmosphere. Today the Old St Elizabeth Beguinage is known as ‘holy corner’, a place of religious tolerance, because it has no less than three different churches: one is Roman Catholic, one is Orthodox and the other is Protestant. From bleachfield to orchard This open beguinage grew into something of a ‘beguine city’ in the 13th century, with a church, the ‘Grootjuffer’s House’, an infirmary, a chapel, more than a hundred houses for beguines, a bleachfield (a field where linen was laid out to bleach) and an orchard. After the French Revolution, with increasing industrialisation, the inhabitants moved to their new beguinage in Sint-Amandsberg in 1873.

Xiaoyan Pagoda (Small Wild Goose Pagoda) is shorter than its larger counterpart, the Dayan Pagoda (Giant Wild Goose Pagoda), but it boasts more floors. Built around 700 AD, like the Dayan Pagoda, it was primarily constructed to house the sacred Buddhist scriptures brought to China by the famous monk Xuanzang.

Enjoy one of the weekly wildflower walks in the summer or one of the many other activities, including classes for adults and children. Experts at Sawtooth Botanical Garden provide information on gardening and teach the larger ecological interrelationship of plants and animals in the region.