City gardens Messeyne and De Paulientjes

The garden belonged to a large 19th-century mansion owned by the merchant and manufacturer of linen and lace, Mr Benoit. He also had a bleachery adjacent to the house. The Hotel Messeyne, which anyone can visit, still overlooks the garden.

The showpieces of the garden are the whimsical pond with a decorative cast-iron bridge. It is a very romantic garden with little paths, sloping lawns and different types of trees and shrubs (lime, beech, chestnut, walnut, sweet chestnut, ash, maple, yew, sycamore, rhododendron, hydrangea, tree peony, lilac, birch...). There is also a neo-Gothic gazebo in the garden, which is protected as a monument.

You walk from this old city garden into the green zone at De Paulientjes, right next to the Broeltorens.

It is a lovely quiet place to spend time between the Leie River and the historic heart of the city.