Ghent International Exposition (1913)

The Ghent International Exposition of 1913 (Wereldtentoonstelling van 1913 Gent, Exposition universelle et internationale de 1913 Gand) was a world's fair held in Ghent, Belgium, from 26 April to 3 November 1913.

History
A number of buildings were completed for the occasion. Notably, Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station was completed in 1912 in time for the exposition, and was situated opposite the new hotel, Flandria Palace. A park, Citadelpark, was redesigned for the fair. The exposition was held on an area of 130 ha, which was larger than Expo 58 in Brussels. Various Belgian cities had a pavilion and an artificial town, called "Oud Vlaenderen" (Old Flanders) was created.

The four sons of Aymon statue, depicting Reinout, Adelaert, Ritsaert and Writsaert on their horse, Beyaert, was erected on the central approach avenue to the exposition.

In preparation for the exhibition, renovations were made in the centre of Ghent, including a large number of houses on the Graslei. Some years beforen the neo-gothic St Michael's Bridge had been built to provide visitors to the exhibition with a vantage point to view the town, the post office and the Korenmarkt (Wheat Market) had been built, and the carved heads now arrayed around it represented the rulers who attended the exhibition (including Florence Nightingale). The construction of the exhibition was controversial and ended on the eve of World War I with serious debts.

During the fair, an international conference on urban planning was held, organised by Paul Saintenoy, Emile Vinck, and Paul Otlet.

Belgium's first aerial postage service was operated from 1 May to 25 August by Henri Crombez during the exposition.

Greek confectionery maker Leonidas Kestekides attended the fair, and then settled permanently in Belgium and founded the Leonidas chocolate company.

In the last of such type of human zoo stagings, part of a group of 53 Igorot tribesmen from Bontoc, Mountain Province, 28-year-old Filipino Timicheg was "displayed" and died here of tuberculosis or flu. A tunnel in the Gent-Sint-Pieters railway station renovation project is named after him.

Participants
The participating nations included: Algeria, Austria, Canada, the Congo, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Persia, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and the United States