BrugesBruges 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 area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 1,075 hectares off the coast,

at Zeebrugge (meaning "Brugge aan Zee"[2] or "Bruges on Sea"[3]). The historic city centre is a

prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The city's total

population is 117,073 (1 January 2008),[4] of which around 20,000 live in the city 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.[5]

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.[6]

Toponymy

The place-name Bruges is first mentioned as Bruggas, Brvggas, Brvccia in 840 - 875,

then Bruciam, Bruociam in 892, Brutgis uico end 9th century, in portu Bruggensi around 1010, Bruggis in

1012, Bricge in 1037 (Anglo-Saxon chronicle), Brugensis in 1046, Brycge 1049 - 1052 (ASC), Brugias in

1072, Bruges in 1080 - 1085, Bruggas around 1084, Brugis in 1089, Brugge in 1116.[7]

Probably from Old Dutch, cf. Middle Dutch brucge, brugge (or brugghe, brigghe, bregghe, brogghe). cf.

Dutch bruggehoofd "bridgehead", Dutch Brug "bridge"),[8]The Dutch word brug(ghe) would be variant form

from the south.[9] from Proto-Germanic *brugjō- "bridge", "harbour bridge", "veenbrug" (cf. English bridge)

History

Origins

Very few traces of human activity in Bruges 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 Vikingincursions of the ninth century prompted Baldwin I,

Count of Flanders to reinforce the Roman fortifications; trade soon resumed with England and Scandinavia.

Golden age (12th to 15th century)

View from Rozenhoedkaai in the evening.jpg.

Bruges received its city charter on July 27, 1128, and new walls and canals were built. 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.

[edit]Trade

Bruges had a strategic location at the crossroads of the northern Hanseatic League trade and the southern

trade routes. Bruges was already included in the circuit of the Flemish and French cloth fairs at the

beginning of the 13th century, but when the old system of fairs broke down the entrepreneurs of Bruges

innovated. They developed, or borrowed from Italy, new forms of merchant capitalism, whereby several

merchants would share the risks and profits and pool their knowledge of markets. They employed new

forms of economic exchange, including bills of exchange (i.e. promissory notes) and letters of credit.[10] The

city eagerly welcomed foreign traders, most notably the Portuguese pepper and spice traders.[11]

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. 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 beyondDamme 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 (most likely the first stock exchange in the world) 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.[12] Numerous foreign merchants were welcomed in Bruges, such as the Castilian wool

merchants who first arrived in the 13th century. The foreign merchants expanded the city's trading zones.

They maintained separate communities governed by their own laws until the economic collapse after 1700.

[13]

Such wealth gave rise to social upheavals, which were for the most part harshly contained by the militia. 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. The city maintained a militia as a permanent paramilitary body. It

gained flexibility and high prestige by close ties to a guild of organized militia, comprising professionals and

specialized units. Militia men bought and maintained their own weapons and armour, accoding to their

family status and wealth.

At the end of the 14th century, Bruges became one of the Four Members, along with Franc of

Bruges, Ghent and Ypres. Together they formed a parliament, however they frequently quarrelled amongst

themselves.[14]

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.[15]

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.

[edit]Decline after 1500

Bruges on the Ferraris map (around 1775)

Starting around 1500, the Zwin channel, which had given the city its prosperity, also started silting. The city

soon fell behindAntwerp 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.[16] The maritime infrastructure was

modernized, and new connections with the sea were built, but without much success, as Antwerp became

increasingly dominant. Bruges became impoverished and gradually faded in importance; its population

dwindling from 200,000 to 50,000 by 1900.[15]

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 intoErich Wolfgang Korngold's opera, Die tote

Stadt (The Dead City).[17]

[edit]Revival

In the last half of the 19th century, Bruges became one of the world's first tourist destinations attracting

wealthy British and French tourists. By 1909 it had in operation an association called 'Bruges Forward:

Society to Improve Tourism.'[18] After 1965 the original medieval city experienced a renaissance.

Restorations of residential and commercial structures, historic monuments, and churches generated a

surge in tourism and economic activity in the ancient downtown area. International tourism has boomed,

and new efforts have resulted in Bruges being designated 'European Capital of Culture' in 2002. It attracts

some 2 million tourists annually.[19]

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.

[edit]Geography

The municipality comprises:

The historic city centre of Bruges, Sint-Jozef and Sint-Pieters (I)

Koolkerke  (II)

Sint-Andries  (III)

Sint-Michiels  (IV)

Assebroek  (V)

Sint-Kruis  (VI)

Dudzele  (VII)

Lissewege  (with Zeebrugge and Zwankendamme) (VIII)

[edit]Sights

Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact. The historic centre of Bruges has been

a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.[20]

Many of its medieval buildings are notable, including the Church of Our Lady, whose brick spire reaches

122.3 m (401.25 ft), 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.

[21] The city still employs a full-time carillonneur, who gives free concerts on a regular basis.

Other famous buildings in Bruges include:

The Beguinage

The Basilica of the Holy Blood (Dutch: Heilig-Bloedbasiliek). 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.

The modern Concertgebouw ("Concert Building")

The Old St-John's Hospital

The Saint Salvator's Cathedral

The Groeningemuseum

The City Hall on the Burg square

The Provincial Court (Provinciaal Hof)

The preserved old city gateways: the Kruispoort, the Gentpoort, the Smedenpoort and the Ezelpoort.

The Dampoort, the Katelijnepoort and the Boeveriepoort are gone.

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.

Culture and art

Theatres and concert halls

Concertgebouw.

't Zand square with theConcertgebouw.

The Belfry – situated on the south side of the Markt.

City Hall.

Gruuthusemuseum.

Saint Salvator's Cathedral.

Aquariustheater

Biekorf

Concertgebouw ("Concert Building")

De Dijk

De Werf

Het Entrepot

Joseph Ryelandtzaal

Magdalenazaal

Sirkeltheater

Stadsschouwburg

Studio Hall

[edit]Cinemas

Cinema Lumière (alternative movies)

Cinema Liberty

Kinepolis  Bruges

[edit]Festivals

Music festivals :

Airbag (accordion festival)

Ars Musica  (contemporary

music)

Blues in Bruges

Brugge Tripel Dagen

Brugges Festival (world music)

Cactusfestival

Elements Festival (electronic

music)

Fuse on the Beach (dance

festival in Zeebrugge)

Hafabrugge (orchestra festival)

Internationale Fedekam Taptoe

Jazz Brugge (jazz festival)

Koorfestival (choir festival)

Festival van

Vlaanderen – MAfestival

Music in Mind (atmospheric

(rock) music)

September Jazz (jazz festival)

Sint-Gillis Blues – en

Folkfestival

Many small rock festivals; the

best known are:

BurgRock

Comma Rocks Festival

Red Rock Rally

Thoprock

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)

Poirot in Bruges –

Knack thrillerfestival

Razor Reel Fantastic Film

Festival

Reiefeest (festival on the

canals)

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

[edit]Museums

[edit]Municipal museums

Artistic works from the 15th to 21st century:

Groeningemuseum

Arents House (contains a Sir Frank Brangwyn collection and a museum for ever-changing

exhibitions of expressive art)

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

Manor of the Brugse Vrije

Museum of Folklore

Guido Gezelle  Museum

Koelewei (Cool Meadow) Mill

Sint-Janshuis (St. John’s House) Mill

Hospitalmuseums:

Old St. John's Hospital  (Hans Memling museum)

Our Lady of the Potteries

[edit]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)

Historium

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)

[edit]Transport

[edit]Road

Bruges has motorway connections to all directions:

A10  to Ostend

A10 /E40 to Ghent and Brussels

A18 /E40 to Veurne and France

A17 /E403 to Kortrijk and Tournai

N31 /E403 to Zeebrugge

N49 /E34 to Antwerp

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.

[edit]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.

[edit]Air

The national Brussels Airport, one hour away by train or car, offers the best connections. 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.

[edit]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, Dutch: stadslijnen) and to many towns and villages in the region around the city

(regional lines, Dutch: streeklijnen).

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.

[edit]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.

[edit]Port

Main article: Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge

The port of Bruges is Zeebrugge (Bruges-on-Sea). It is the most modern and second biggest port of

Belgium and one of the most important in Europe.[citation needed] On 6 March 1987, the British ferry MS Herald of

Free Enterprise capsized after leaving the port, killing 187 people, the worst disaster involving a British

civilian vessel since 1919.[22]

[edit]Sports

Jan Breydel Stadium.

Bruges is traditionally the starting town for the annual Tour of Flanders cycle race, held in April and one of

the biggest sporting events in Belgium.

Bruges is also a football town, represented by two teams at the top level (Belgian First Division): Club

Brugge K.V. and Cercle Brugge K.S.V., both playing in the Jan Breydel Stadium (30,000 seats) in Sint-

Andries. There are plans for a new stadium with about 45,000 seats in the south of the city, near the

junction of the E40 and the E403.

In 2000 Bruges was one of the eight host cities for the UEFA European Football Championship, co-hosted

by Belgium and its neighbour the Netherlands.

[edit]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, and of the United

Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), a Research and

Training Institute of the United Nations University specialising in the comparative study of regional

integration.

[edit]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[who?] 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 specifically 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.

[edit]Notable people

Main article: Notable people from Bruges

The following people were born in Bruges:

Jan Breydel  and Pieter de Coninck, freedom fighters

Philip I of Castile , first Habsburg ruler in Spain (1478–1506)

Adrian Willaert , composer of the Renaissance, (birth in Bruges uncertain, c.

1490-1562)

Simon Stevin , mathematician and engineer (1548–1620)

Franciscus Gomarus , Calvinist theologian (1563–1641)

Guido Gezelle , poet and priest (1830–1899)

Gotye , Australian-Belgian singer songwriter (1980)

Isidore van Kinsbergen , Dutch-Flemish engraver, (1821–1905)

Hugo Claus , Belgian author (1929-2008)

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

[edit]Miscellaneous

Brugse Zot.

The exterior of the Boudewijn Seapark dolphinarium in Bruges.

Bruges is known for its lace.

Several beers are named after Bruges, such as Brugge Blond, Brugge

Tripel, Brugs, Brugse Babbelaar, Brugse Straffe Hendrik and Brugse Zot.

However, only Brugse Zot and Brugse Straffe Hendrik are still brewed in the city

itself, in the Halve Maan Brewery.

In Sint-Michiels is the amusement park Boudewijn Seapark, which features

a dolphinarium.

The patron saint of Bruges is Andrew the Apostle.[23]

Fiction:

Bruges-la-Morte , a short novel by the Belgian author Georges Rodenbach,

first published in 1892. The libretto of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's opera Die

Tote Stadt, written in 1920, is based on this book

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 are 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 Niccolò 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.

In the last chapter of Saul Bellow's novel The Adventures of Augie

March Augie is driving through France on his way to Bruges on business.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges