Bruge is capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. There are three official languages in Belgium; Dutch, French, and German. The Flemish areas speak Dutch primarily. Thankfully, English was widely spoken so we were able to get around. Due to the coastal location of Bruges, evidence of settlement in the area goes back to the Bronze and Iron Ages. The area then saw the Romans in the first century BC and the Franks in the fourth century. Then the Viking stopped by in ninth century. The local people stayed around and from the 12th to the 15th century saw the golden age due to trade in wool cloth, spices, wines, and iron commodities. Bruges was a key area for economic exchange, including promissory notes and letters of credit. The decline after 1500 was mainly due to Antwerp gaining financial and trade power. The last half of the 19th century had Bruges as one of the world’s first tourist destinations attracting wealthy British and French tourists. After 1965 the medieval city was restored and rebuilt and now it attracts two million tourists annually. We visited the Belfry, St. Salvator's Cathedral, the Church of our Lady, the Provincial Palace, Basilica of the Holy Blood, the Kruispoort, and the windmills.
The Belfry has 47 bells with the largest weighing 11,000 pounds. The building was first built in 1240 with the final sections of the belfry being added in 1487. We didn’t climb to the top of the tower, but the view from there is said to be beautiful. St. Salvator's Cathedral is the main church of the city. Since the 10th century, it was a common parish church but throughout the remainder of its history various additions were constructed so that by the 19th century it achieved cathedral status. The Church of our Lady is another church of the city that houses the sculpture of the Madonna and child. The tower is 401 feet tall and is the second tallest brickwork tower in the world. The tallest is in Landshut, Germany. My favorite part of this church is 1504 sculpture of the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. It is the only sculpture by Michelangelo that left Italy during his lifetime. It was purchased by two wealthy cloth merchants and brought to Bruges. The sculpture was twice recovered after being looted by foreign occupiers; French revolutionaries around 1794 and Nazi Germans in 1944. Next we visited the Provincial Palace on the Market Square. It is a neogothical building that was used as a government meeting hall until 1999, now it is mainly a ceremonial building. The City Hall is attached to the small Basilica of the Holy Blood. This minor basilica was originally built in the 12th century as the chapel of the residence of the Count of Flanders. The church houses a venerated relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea. The interior is not very large, but the stained glass windows make for a beautiful color-filled room. Outside the historic center of the city is a canal that had a series of city gates. The Kruispoort was built in the early 15th century and is the best-preserved of Bruges’s four remaining city gates. Lastly, we visited the Bonne Chiere Mill which was first built in 1888. Originally there were 25 windmills, but now there are only a few remaining. The mills are still functioning and will occasionally sell flour.
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