A little bit of significant history in a quiet little back square, Zandberg, in Ghent.
A well existed here in the 1400s, and the current pump was installed in 1810 to provide drinking water for the horses of Napoleon's army. Rising above this is a 30 foot column topped by an eagle on a globe, a symbol of the French Empire. After the fall of this empire, in 1814 an order was given to remove all ornaments relating to the French occupation. However, this one was apparently forgotten and the eagle remained above the well until the rock disintegrated and fell off in 1944. A bronze cast of it was placed back on top of the column in 1947, and it is the only public decoration that recalls the Napoleonic era in Ghent. The pump was in use until disabled in the 1950s.