Dulle Griet canon
On a little waterside square not far from the Vrijdagmarkt sits a massive wrought iron canon in fiery red. Her name is Dulle Griet, after an iconic folk figure of the Lower Countries, but she also goes by the name ‘Red Devil’. At 12,500 tons at the moment of creation around the 1430s, this was one of Europe’s most frightening medieval weapons. It was eventually discovered that she had more bravado than substance though; the canon was fired only once, in a clash with the Spaniards, and was immediately found to be faulty when the cannonball fell lifelessly to the ground.
Grootkanonplein 5, Ghent, Belgium