Imagine a quiet idyll of nature on the background of the Medieval stone houses, swans swimming elegantly in the same canal with cruise ships, beautiful picturesque docks and the most delicious waffles with chocolate in the world! All of this inspires wonder and causes an irresistible desire to visit the described place. That’s a small but quite authentic Belgian town called Bruges.
This land is like a time capsule. It managed to save the atmosphere of the Middle Ages. The concentration of bridges, bricked streets with horse-drawing carriages, ancient Gothic architecture, and proximity to the sea make this city truly unique in its own way. However, many people compare it to Venice due to the interlacement of three canals that flow at the very foot of the houses. This cozy historical nook in the very center of Europe will help you find peace of mind and harmony. At the same time, it will give you a chance to get new bright impressions. A real paradise for the fans of beer and chocolate is located here, in the main city of the Flemish Region.
According to the administrative division, the city has eight districts. However, tourists are mostly interested in Brugge Centrum. It’s the central and most frequently visited district. The Grote Markt square and Belfort van Brugge bell tower that is taken under the protection of UNESCO are located here. Nearby, you will find one of the oldest city halls in Europe as well the Church of Our Lady and some of the museums in Bruges.
The Lissewege district will amaze you with the new Zeebrugge seaport where water buses often run. However, you find piles of delicious and “beautiful” chocolate, bricked streets along the picturesque ponds and diversity of architectural masterpieces in the Gothic and neo-Gothic styles in any district of Bruges.
The main iconic places in the city include Basilica of the Holy Blood, Beguinage (an active monastery of women- beguines), the whole historical part of the city headed by the Belfort Tower. One can’t also miss the Sint-Janshuis Mill, Jan van Eyck Square, Prinsenhof Palace, Brugse Vrije (a building at the Groenerei canal), and the Hospital of St. John which is more than 800 years old.
Nowadays, the population of Bruges is a little more than one hundred thousand people. Though, it used to be a populated city once with over two hundred thousand citizens. According to other sources, the number even reached five hundred thousand people. For historical reasons, the national composition of the citizens is divided into three almost equal groups: the Belgians, Dutch, French. You can also meet here representatives of many other ethnical groups. Dutch is considered to be the most popular language here. It has a strong Flemish dialect. Annually, over 2 million tourists all over the world come to explore Bruges. Locals will be more than happy to greet every newcomer.
The history of Bruges begins in the IX century when the Normans explored these territories. However, many chronicles state that the city appeared in the VII century. Some historians claim that the first record could be found in the II century, related to the activity of the evangelists. But the Bridge (that’s the translation of Bruges) obtained the status of a city only due to the appearance of the Normans at the neighboring lands. Several factors influenced the rapid development of the city. First of all, there were the trading processes related to selling of the Flemish cloth that was extremely popular and renowned at that time. Second of all, it’s a peculiar location of the river Zwin which connected the city to the sea. The location of the city itself was the intersection of all the commercial roads and the heart of the guild handicrafts development.
The period of the Middle Ages was the most favorable for the development of Bruges. The golden age of the city was in the XII-XV centuries, during the bloom of the Hanseatic League and the reign of the Dukes of Burgundy. All worldwide trading routes met here. For quite a long time, the residence of the bishop had been located in Bruges. Courts of the first instance, gymnasiums, theatres, Academy of Fine Arts, a hospital, and many other establishments started to appear in Bruges. It is generally believed that the first stock exchange was also opened here. It attracted merchants who came to Bruges to sell their goods, wealthy people, aristocracy, the artists of the Flemish School.
Unfortunately, as time went, the River Zwin began to grow shallow and dry up. As a result, the sea gate and access of the ships to the harbor were limited. In addition to that, the city was absorbed into the inner conflicts of the local authorities. All these factors brought the city to decline. Only the income from selling the cloth to the Englishmen let the city to hold up well.
When Philip II came to power, citizens started to leave the territory of the city due to the austere policy of his reign. At the beginning of the XVIII century, the Dutch conquered Bruges. Then, it was conquered by the French. However, the whole of Belgium had been a part of France until the beginning of the XIX century. Bruges had belonged to the Netherlands till 1814. It reverted to the control of Belgium only in 1830. The city had never seen such poverty! As a result, it helped to save its “face” as we see it today. No one planned to construct new buildings. Everything stayed the same way it was in the Middle Ages. It seemed that the city had fallen asleep. And when it woke up, it happened to be in a fairytale. In comparison to other modern cities that underwent the process of urbanization, Bruges looked marvelous! Eventually, travelers all over the world began visiting it.
At the end of the XIX century, the economy, culture, and tourism started developing in the city. Shipbuilding yards, factories producing fabrics and laces, diamonds’ facetting, winemaking, and brewing were flourishing! The end of the XX century was marked by the building of the new contemporary port called Zeebrugge. Nowadays, the status of a city with a powerful sea trading processes and active tourism belongs to Bruges again. UNESCO recognized its center as the World’s Cultural Heritage.