Bruges ( ) is the capital
and largest city of the province of West Flanders
in the Flemish Region
of Belgium
. It
is located in the northwest of the country.
The
historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO
. It
is egg-shaped and about 430
hectares in
size.
The
area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares,
including 193.7 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge
("Seabruges" in literal translation). The
city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which
around 20,000 live in the historic centre. The
metropolitan area, including the outer
commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² and has a total of
255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.
Along with
a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam
, it is sometimes referred to as "The Venice of the North".
Bruges has a significant economic importance thanks to its
port. At one time it was the "chief commercial
city" of the world.Bruges is also home to the
College of Europe.
History
Origins
Very few traces of human activity date from the
Pre-Roman Gaul era. The first fortifications were built
after
Julius Caesar's conquest of the
Menapii in the first century BC, to protect
the coastal area against pirates. The
Franks
took over the whole region from the
Gallo-Romans around the 4th century and
administered it as the
Pagus
Flandrensis.
The Viking incursions
of the ninth century prompted Baldwin I, Count of Flanders to
reinforce the Roman fortifications; trade soon resumed with
England
and Scandinavia.
It is at around this time that coins appeared for the first time
bearing the name
Bryggia.
This name may stem from the Old Norse , meaning "landing stage" or "port", and
may have the same origin as Norway’s Bryggen
.
Golden Age (12th to 15th century)
An old street in Bruges, with the
Church of Our Lady tower in the background.
Bruges got its
city charter on July 27,
1128 and built itself new walls and canals. Since about 1050,
gradual silting had caused the city to lose its direct access to
the sea.
A
storm in 1134, however, re-established this access, through the
creation of a natural channel at the Zwin
.
The new
sea arm stretched all the way to Damme
, a city that
became the commercial outpost for Bruges.
With the reawakening of town life in the twelfth century, a wool
market, a woollens weaving industry, and the market for cloth all
profited from the shelter of city walls, where surpluses could be
safely accumulated under the patronage of the
counts of Flanders. Bruges was already
included in the circuit of the Flemish cloth fairs at the beginning
of the 13th century. The city's entrepreneurs reached out to make
economic colonies of England and Scotland's wool-producing
districts. English contacts brought Normandy grain and Gascon
wines.
Hanseatic ships filled
the harbor, which had to be expanded beyond Damme to Sluys
to
accommodate the new cog-ships.
In 1277,
the first merchant fleet from Genoa
appeared in
the port of Bruges, first of the merchant colony that made Bruges
the main link to the trade of the Mediterranean. This
development opened not only the trade in spices from the
Levant, but also advanced commercial and financial
techniques and a flood of capital that soon took over the banking
of Bruges. The
Bourse opened in 1309 and
developed into the most sophisticated money market of the Low
Countries in the 14th century. By the time Venetian galleys first
appeared, in 1314, they were latecomers.
Such wealth gave rise to social upheavals, which were for the most
part harshly contained.
In 1302, however, after the Bruges Matins (the nocturnal
massacre of the French garrison in Bruges by the members of the
local Flemish militia on 18 May 1302), the population joined
forces with the Count of Flanders
against the French, culminating in the
victory at the Battle of the
Golden Spurs, fought near Kortrijk
on July 11. The statue of
Jan Breydel and
Pieter de Coninck, the leaders of the
uprising, can still be seen on the Big Market square.
In the
15th century, Philip the
Good, duke of Burgundy, set up court in Bruges, as well as
Brussels
and Lille
, attracting
a number of artists, bankers, and other prominent personalities
from all over Europe. The weavers and spinners of Bruges
were thought to be the best in the world, and the population of
Bruges grew to 200,000 inhabitants at this time.
The new Flemish-school, oil-painting techniques gained world
renown. The first book in English ever printed was published in
Bruges by
William Caxton. This is
also the time when
Edward IV
and
Richard III of England
spent time in exile here.
16th century onwards
Starting around 1500, the Zwin channel, which had given the city
its prosperity, also started silting.
The city soon fell
behind Antwerp
as the economic flagship of the Low Countries. During the 17th century,
the
lace industry took off, and various efforts
to bring back the glorious past were made. During the 1650s, the
city was the base for
Charles II
of England and his court in exile. The maritime infrastructure
was modernized, and new connections with the sea were built, but
without much success. Bruges became impoverished and gradually
disappeared from the picture, with its population dwindling from
200,000 to 50,000 by the end of the 1800s.
The symbolist novelist
George
Rodenbach even made the sleepy city into a character in his
novel
Bruges-la-Morte,
meaning "Bruges-the-dead", which was adapted into
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opera,
Die tote Stadt (The Dead
City). In the last half of the 19th century, Bruges became one of
the world's first tourist destinations attracting wealthy British
and French tourists. Only in the second half of the 20th century
has the city started to reclaim some of its past glory.
The
port of
Zeebrugge
was built in 1907. The Germans used it for
their
U-boats in
World
War I. It was greatly expanded in the 1970s and early 1980s and
has become one of Europe's most important and modern ports.
International tourism has boomed, and new efforts have resulted in
Bruges being designated '
European Capital of Culture' in
2002.
Geography
Satellite picture of Bruges.
Municipality of Bruges.
The
municipality
comprises:
Sights
Bruges has most of its
medieval architecture intact.
The historic centre
of Bruges has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since
2000.
Many of
its medieval buildings are notable, including the Church of
Our Lady
, whose brick spire reaches 122,3m, making it one of
the world's highest brick towers/buildings. The sculpture
Madonna and Child, which
can be seen in the transept, is believed to be
Michelangelo's only sculpture to have left
Italy within his lifetime.
Bruges'
most famous landmark is its 13th-century belfry
, housing a municipal carillon comprising 48 bells. The city still
employs a full-time carillonneur, who gives free concerts on a
regular basis.
Other famous buildings in Bruges include:
Bruges also has a very fine collection of medieval and early modern
art, including the world-famous collection of
Flemish Primitives. Various masters, such
as
Hans Memling and
Jan van Eyck, lived and worked in Bruges.
In
Sint-Michiels is the amusement park Boudewijn Seapark
, which features a dolphinarium.
File:Church Of Our Lady Bruges.jpg|The Church of Our
Lady.File:OLVBrugge.jpg|The
Dijver canal and the tower of
the Church of Our Lady.File:Brugge Markt1.jpg|The
Provinciaal
Hof.File:Brugge - Kruispoort 2.jpg|The
Kruispoort.File:Brugge Dweerstraat.jpg|The
Dweersstraat.File:Brugge beguinage.JPG|The
Beguinage.File:Brugge-Canal.jpg|The
Groenerei
(canal).File:Brugge-CanalRozenhoedkaai.JPG|View from the
Rozenhoedkaai.File:Bruges canal corner.jpg |An aerial view
over one of Bruges' canals.File:BridgeBruges.jpg|Bridge at Bruges,
(ca. 1919)
by
Louis Dewis.
File:Roofs of Bruges 01.jpg|Roofs of old houses in the city
centre.File:Bruges_De_Burg.JPG|The
Burg square with the
City Hall.
Culture and art
Theatres and concert halls
- Aquariustheater
- Biekorf
- Concertgebouw ("Concert Building")
- De Dijk
- De Werf
- Het Entrepot
- Joseph Ryelandtzaal
- Magdalenazaal
- Sirkeltheater
- Stadsschouwburg
- Studio Hall
- The English Theatre of
Bruges
Cinemas
- Cinema Lumière (alternative movies)
- Cinema Liberty
- Kinepolis Bruges
Festivals
Museums
Municipal museums
- Artistic works from the 15th to 21st century:
- Groeningemuseum
- Arents House (contains a Frank
Brangwyn museum and a museum for ever-changing exhibitions of
expressive art)
- Forum+ (part of the Concertgebouw; has exhibitions of
contemporary art)
 Concertgebouw.
|
|
 t Zand square with
the Concertgebouw .
|
|
 The Belfry - situated on the south
side of the Grote Markt.
|
|
 City Hall.
|
|
 Gruuthusemuseum.
|
|
 Saint Salvator's Cathedral.
|
|
|
- ;Music festivals:
- Airbag (accordion festival)
- Ars Musica (contemporary
music)
- AssebRock
- Bruges Metal Fest
- Brugge Tripel Dagen
- Brugges Festival (world music)
- Burg Rock
- Cactusfestival
- Comma Rocks Festival
- Dagen van de Bruggeling
- Dudstock (last edition 2007, discontinued)
- Hafabrugge (orchestra festival)
- Internationale Fedekam Taptoe
- Jazz Brugge (jazz festival)
- Koorfestival (choir festival)
- Festival van Vlaanderen - MAfestival (old
music)
- Music in Mind (atmospheric (rock) music)
- On the Rocks
- Red Rock Rally
- September Jazz (jazz festival)
- Sint-Gillis Blues- en Folkfestival
- Sun'up Festival
- Thoprock
- Toekanfestival
- Vijverpop
- Vleugelrock
- Walvisfestival
|
- ;Cultural or food festivals:
- Aristidefeesten
- BAB-bierfestival (beer
festival)
- Brugse Kantdagen ("Bruges' Lace Days")
- Chapter 2 (juggling
convention)
- Choco-Laté (chocolate festival)
- Cinema Novo (film
festival)
- Cirque Plus (circus festival)
- European Youth Film Festival of Flanders
- Ice Magic (snow and ice sculpture festival)
- Jonge Snaken Festival
- Midwinterfeest
- NAFT (theatre
festival)
- Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival
- Reiefeest (festival on the canals)
- Uitgepakt! (gay culture festival)
- ;Musical cultural festivals:
- Come On!
- Coupurefeesten
- December Dance (dance festival)
- Feest In't Park
- FEST
- Klinkers
- Polé Polé Beach (in Zeebrugge)
- Sint-Michielse Feeste
- Summer End Festival
- Vama Veche festival
|
- The Bruggemuseum ("Bruges Museum") (general name for
11 different historical museums in the city):
- Gruuthusemuseum
- Welcome Church of Our Lady
- Archaeological Museum
- Gentpoort
- Belfry
- City Hall
- Liberty of Bruges
- Museum of Folklore
- Guido Gezelle Museum
- Koelewei (Cool Meadow) Mill
- Sint-Janshuis (St. John’s House) Mill
- Old St John’s Hospital (Hans
Memling)
- Our Lady of the Potteries
Non-municipal museums
- Beguine's House
- Brewery museum
- Hof Bladelin
- Basilica of the Holy Blood
- Choco-Story (chocolate museum)
- Lumina Domestica (lamp museum)
- Museum-Gallery Xpo: Salvador Dalí
- Diamond Museum
- English Convent
- Frietmuseum (museum dedicated to Belgian Fries)
- Jerusalem Church
- Lace centre
- St. George’s Archers Guild
- Saint Salvator's Cathedral
- St. Sebastian’s Archers’ Guild
- St. Trudo Abbey
- Public Observatory Beisbroek
- Ter Doest Abbey (in Lissewege)
Transport
Road
Bruges has
motorway connections to all
directions:
Driving within the 'egg', the historical centre enclosed by the
main circle of canals in Bruges, is discouraged by traffic
management schemes, including a network of one way streets. The
system encourages the use of set routes leading to central car
parks and direct exit routes. The car parks are convenient for the
central commercial and tourist areas; they are inexpensive.
Railway
Bruges' main
railway station
is the focus of lines to the Belgian coast.
It also
provides at least hourly trains to all other major cities in
Belgium, as well as to Lille,
France. Further there are several regional and local
trains.
The main
station is also a stop for the Thalys train
Paris
–Brussels–Ostend
.
Bus links to the centre are frequent, though the railway station is
just a 10 minute walk from the main shopping streets and a 20
minute walk from the Market Square.
Plans for
a north–south light rail connection
through Bruges, from Zeebrugge to Lichtervelde
, and a light rail connection between Bruges and
Ostend are under construction.
Air
The
national Brussels
Airport
, one hour away by train or car, offers the best
connectivity. The nearest airport is the Ostend-Bruges International
Airport
in Ostend (around 25 km from the city centre
of Bruges), but it offers limited passenger transport and
connections.
t Zand
bus
station.
Public city transport
Bruges has an extensive web of bus lines, operated by
De Lijn, providing access to the city centre
and the suburbs (city lines, ) and to many towns and villages in
the region around the city (regional lines, ).
In support of the municipal
traffic management (see
"Road" above), free public transport is available for those who
park their cars in the main railway station car park.
Cycling
Although a few streets are restricted, no part of Bruges is car
free.
Cars are required to yield to pedestrians and cyclists. Plans have
long been under way to ban cars altogether from the historic center
of Bruges or to restrict traffic much more than it currently is,
but these plans have yet to come to fruition. In 2005, signs were
changed for the convenience of cyclists, allowing two-way cycle
traffic on more streets, however car traffic has not decreased.
Recent cycle fatalities have increased pressure to close bridges
and further calm inner Bruges, but laws have not yet passed. Due to
heavily populated suburbs, bus traffic is high on the narrow
streets. This makes cycling even trickier.
Nevertheless, in common with many cities in the region, there are
thousands of cyclists in the city of Bruges.
The Elly Mærsk, here at Zeebrugge
port, currently one of the world's largest container vessels.
Port
The port of Bruges is Zeebrugge. It's the most modern and second
biggest port of Belgium and one of the most important in
Europe.
Sports
Jan Breydel Stadium.
Education
The KHBO campus in
Sint-Michiels.
Bruges is an important centre for education in West Flanders. Next
to the several common primary and secondary schools, there are a
few colleges, like the
KHBO (
Katholieke
Hogeschool Brugge-Oostende) or the
HOWEST (
Hogeschool
West-Vlaanderen). Furthermore, the city is home to the
College of Europe, a prestigious
institution of postgraduate studies in European
Economics,
Law and
Politics.
Town twinning policy
On principle, Bruges has to date never entered into close
collaboration with twin cities. Without denying the usefulness of
this schemes for towns with fewer international contacts, the main
reason is that Bruges would find it difficult to choose between
cities and thinks that it has enough work already with its many
international contacts. Also, it was thought in Bruges that
twinning was too often an occasion for city authorities and
representatives to travel on public expense.
This
principle resulted, in the 1950s, in Bruges refusing a
jumelage with Nice
and other
towns, signed by a Belgian ambassador without previous
consultation. In the 1970s, a Belgian consul in Oldenburg
made the mayor of Bruges sign a declaration of
friendship which he tried to present, in vain, as a
jumelage.
The twinning between some of the former communes, merged with
Bruges in 1971, were discontinued.
This does not mean that Bruges would not be interested in
cooperation with others, as well in the short term as in the long
run, for particular projects. Here follow a few examples.
- Bastogne
, Luxembourg
, Belgium
- After
World War II and into the 1970s,
Bruges, more in particular the Fire Brigade of Bruges, entertained
friendly relations with Bastogne. Each year a free holiday was offered at the
seaside in Zeebrugge, to children from the Nuts city.
- Arolsen
, Hesse
, Germany
- From
the 1950s until the 1980s, Bruges was the patron of the Belgian
First Regiment of Horse Guards,
quartered in Arolsen.
- Salamanca
, Castilla y León
, Spain
- Both
towns having been made European Capital of Culture in
2002, Bruges had some exchanges organized with Salamanca.
- Mons
, Hainaut
, Belgium
- In
2007, cultural and artistic cooperation between Mons and Bruges
was inaugurated.
- Burgos
, Castilla y
León, Spain
- On 29
January 2007, the mayors of Burgos and Bruges
signed a declaration of intent about future cooperation on
cultural, touristic and economic matters.
Noteworthy residents
The following people were born in Bruges:
In the 15th century, the city became the magnet for a number of
prominent personalities:
- Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy set up court in Bruges,
Brussels, and Lille in the 15th
century
- William Caxton, English merchant,
diplomat, writer, and printer
- Petrus Christus, Flemish
painter
- Gerard David, Flemish painter
- Hans Memling, Flemish painter
- Jan van Eyck, Flemish painter
- Juan Luís Vives, Spanish
scholar and humanist
- Simon Bening and Levina Teerlinc, Limners
In media
Brugse Zot.
The exterior of the Boudewijn Seapark
dolphinarium in Bruges.
- Bruges-la-Morte, a
short novel by the Belgian author Georges Rodenbach, first published in
1892.
- In Bruges, a film from
Oscar-winning director Martin
McDonagh, starring Colin Farrell
and Brendan Gleeson, is set almost
entirely in Bruges. The city's major landmarks and history are
mentioned repeatedly throughout the film, as is the contrasted
viewpoints of the two lead characters of the story.
- The detective stories of Pieter Aspe
are situated in Bruges.
- The Nun's Story,
a dramatic film released by Warner Bros. Pictures in 1959, is
mostly set in Bruges.
- Niccolò Rising, the first volume of the 8 book
House of Niccolo
series by Dorothy Dunnett is largely
set in Bruges, and other books in the series also have sections set
in Bruges.
- Floris, a Dutch
television action series, written by Gerard Soeteman
- Alan Hollinghurst's novel
The Folding Star is set in
a Flemish town that is recognisably Bruges.
- L'Astrologue de
Bruges, a Belgian bande
dessinée in the Yoko Tsuno series by
Roger Leloup, is entirely set in
Bruges, both contemporary and in 1545.
Panoramas
External links
References
- Statistics Belgium; Population de droit par
commune au 1 janvier 2008 (excel-file)
Population of all municipalities in Belgium, as of 1 January 2008.
Retrieved on 2008-10-19.
- Statistics Belgium; De Belgische Stadsgewesten
2001 (pdf-file) Definitions of
metropolitan areas in Belgium. The metropolitan area of Bruges is
divided into three levels. First, the central agglomeration
(agglomeratie), which in this case is Bruges municipality,
with 117,073 inhabitants (2008-01-01). Adding the closest
surroundings (banlieue) gives a total of 166,502. And,
including the outer commuter zone (forensenwoonzone) the
population is 255,844. Retrieved on 2008-10-19.
- Bruges - A brief historical background.
- Braudel, Fernand, The Perspective of the World, in
Vol.III Civilization and Capitalism, 1984
- Historic centre of Bruges becomes a UNESCO World Heritage
Site
and Sint-Pieters
(I)
(II)
(III)
(IV)
(V)
(VI)
(VII)
(with Zeebrugge
) (VIII)
( ). The relic of the Holy Blood, which was
brought to the city after the Second
Crusade by Thierry of Alsace,
is paraded every year through the streets of the city. More than
1,600 inhabitants take part in this mile-long religious procession, many dressed as
medieval knights or crusaders.
on the Burg
square
and
Brussels
and
France
(30,000 seats). Although, Club Brugge has
plans for a new stadium with about 45,000 seats.
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