Bruges is one of the most visited medieval cities in the world. In the middle ages, the wealth of waterways made Bruges the world’s “chief commercial city” & was considered to be the wealthiest city in Europe.
Photo Hotspots
Belfort
Burg Square
Grote Markt
Dijver
Provincial Court
Chocolatier Dumon
Duc Du Bourgogne
Wollestraat & Belfry
THe Church Of Our Lady
THe Church Of Our Lady
Blind Ass Alley
Frank Van Acker Memorial
Old Civic Registry
Spinolarei
Jan van Eyck Square
Colour Gallery
The city’s not just known for its beer & chocolate, it is also known for its lace & makes some of the most intricate in the world. It is possible to produce such large quantities of fabric for the lace due to the vast amounts of Flax flowers that are grown in the Flanders region.
“Bruges is a beautiful medieval city almost untouched by time. If you like jazz, you will be well catered for. If you like chocolate & beer, you will be in heaven.”
― James Frain
“Dead towns are the Cathedrals of Silence. They, too, have their gargoyles, singular figures, exaggerated, dubious, set in high profile. They stand out from the mass of grey, which takes all it has in the way of character, its twitchings of stagnant life from them. Some have been distorted by solitude, others grimace with a directionless fervour; here there are masks of cherished lust, there faces ceaselessly sculpted & furrowed by mysticism. Human gargoyles, the only figures of interest in this monotonous population.”
― Georges Rodenbach, The Bells of Bruges
Did You Know?
The name Bruges derives from Old Dutch. The word meant ‘Bridge’. The city predates the Pre-Roman Gaul Era. Its first fortifications were built by Julius Caesar after the conquest of Menapii in the 1st century BC.
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