Bruges

Introduction

Brugges Canal

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Bruges (in Dutch: Brugge), is one of the most visited towns in Belgium. It is the capital of the province of West Flanders, and is also the seat of the Bishop of Brugge. Bruges has a population of just over 117,000, of which around 20,000 live in the old city centre, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, because of the many special buildings in that area. Most of the visitors are attracted to Bruges because of it's charm. The channels sometimes make you wonder if you are not in the Netherlands. Not a crazy thought as Belgium was part of the Netherlands until 1830. If you are on a longer trip it makes a perfect break in between cities, like Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

Neighbourhoods

The Bruges region has a lot of smaller villages. The main city excists of the old inner city, and the neighbourhoods of Sint-Jozef and Sint-Pieter. The most important other piece of the city lies on the shores of the Northsea, and is called Zee-Brugge.

Sights and Activities

In the old centre there are a couple of buildings that date back until the middle ages. The old centre is a perfect place just to wander around in, and to explore by foot the often narrow streets.

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Kerk

brugge city square

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The tower of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Kerk (Church of our lady) is the highest building in Bruges, as the tower reaches a height of 122 metres. This makes it one of the heighest brick buildings in the world. It houses the sculpture Madonna and Child by Michelangelo. The sculpture was looted two times in history. The first time by the French in 1794, and the second time by the Nazis in 1944. Both times the piece could be recovered.

Belfry

Another famous landmark of Bruges is the Belfry (or Belfort), also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first tower that stood on this place at the Market square and was build around 1240, but was destroyed in a fire 40 years alter. The tower was rebuild, and in the 15th century the octangular top of the tower was added. In the first years it was topped with a wooden spire, but that also was destroyed by a fire. In the tower there is a carillon, that has 47 bells and is played on regular times. For a great view over Bruges, you can climb the 366 steps to a height of 83 metres. On the bottom of the tower stands the Cloth hall.

Basilica of the Holy Blood

Brugge

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The Basilica of the Holy Blood (Dutch: Heilig-Bloedbasiliek) is a small but beautiful Basilica, next to the City Hall, of which the first part was build in the 12th century. It has two chapels, the lower and the upper chapel, and it was promoted to Basilica in 1923. The lower chapel is dedicated to St. Basil the Great and remained a Romanesque structure. The relic of the holy blood, after which the basilica is named is in the upper chapel, which was rebuilt in the Gothic style during the 15th century.

As the name suggests it is claimed that the blood of Jesus Christ is preserved in a small container in the church. The legends tells us that the relic was brought to Bruges during the second crusade (1147-1149) by Thierry of Alsace. However there is no evidence to back this story, and it's more likely that the relic came to Bruges after the fourth crusade, where it was loothed during the siege of Constantinople. Other evidence suggests that it's even younger. Each Ascencion Day the relic is carried through Bruges at the procession of the Holy blood in which around 3000 people participate, and many times more are present as spectators.

Other Sights

• The Channels
• The Market
• City Hall
• Vismarkt
• Begijnenhof Ten Wijngaerde
• 

  Begijnhof

  © All Rights Reserved rebmamber

  The Gates
• Jerusalem Church

Museums

• Guido Gezelle museum
• Arentshuis
• Brugse Vrije
• Chocolate museum
• Friet museum (Fries museum)
• Diamant museum

Events and Festivals

• The Cactus Festival is a music festival in the Minnewaterpark, that last for three days. It usually takes place at the beginning of July, and gets some really big names in the current music scene to Bruges.
• Musica Antiqua festival Brugge is a festival that focuses on old music and genuine instruments. It last for 10 days, and concerts take place all over Brugge.
• Cinema Novo is an international film festival that takes place in March. It was founded in 1984, and shows films from third world countries. The festival also tries to introduce film producers and directors from Asia, Africa and Latin-America to Belgium distributors.
• Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival at the end of the year with sculptures by 40 international professionals.
• In the many parts of Bruges there are 23 funfairs during the year. The biggest one takes place in Mei, and is called the Meifoor. It last for almost the entire month, and takes place at and around the square of 't Zand.

Weather

The weather is hugely influenced by the proximity of the sea; Bruges has a maritime climate with generally mild conditions. Summers are relatively cool with average daytime temperatures around or just above 20 °C and nights of around 12-14 °C. Winters are mild and temperatures stay above 0 °C on average, also during the nights. The driest days occur in the first part of the year, although the difference with the wettest part of the year is not that big.

Getting There

By Plane

Ostend-Bruges International Airport is about 25 kilometres from Bruges, located near the coastal city of Ostend, but serves mainly as an airport for charter and package holiday flights to southern Europe. Destinations include Antalya, Bodrum, Izmir, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Alicante, Corfu, Djerba, Crete, Kos, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodes, Tenerife, and Monastir (Tunisia).

Of much more use the Brussels International airport (BRU) and Brussels South Charleroi Airport are the nearest international airports, located near Brussels, which is just about an hour away by car/train/bus.

By Train

Bruges’ train station is 1.5 kilometre south of the city centre. There are trains every half-hour to Brussels (one hour) and Ghent (20 minutes). Hourly trains go to Antwerp (70 minutes), De Panne (one hour), Knokke (15 minutes), Kortrijk (40 minutes), Ostend (15 minutes) and Zeebrugge (10 minutes). To get to Ypres (two hours), take the train to Kortrijk and change trains for the hourly connection to Ypres.

By Car

Bruges is just north of the main A10 highway between Ghent and Ostend.

By Bus

By Boat

There are a few connections by ferry to/from nearby Zeebrugge:

• Superfast Ferries has overnight ferries service 3 times a week from Rosyth (Scotland) to Zeebrugge (arrive 11:30 next day).
• P&O Ferries offers daily overnight ships between Hull (England) and Zeebrugge as well.

Getting Around

By Car

Bruges is a small city with few places to park your car in the centre. Better to leave the car at the train station for just €2.50 a day or €0.50 an hour, including bus tickets to the centre!

By Public Transport

De Lijn provides some bus connections in and around the city.

By Foot

Bruges is small enough to negotiate on foot.

By Bike

Eat

Drink

• A great place to try some of the best beers Belgium has to offer is t' Brugs Beertje (the Bruges little bear) Kemel Straat 5. It offers around 300 different beers from various regions of Belgium, and offers a quiet local atmosphere. To accompany your beer, cheese plates are also available.
• Another quaint place is Cafe Vlissingen (Blekestraat 2) which is the oldest cafe in Bruges, established in 1515. It also offers good local beer and a lot of character.
• De Garre (De Garre 1) is tucked away in a tiny alley near the Markt, and is a great place to sample a very strong local beer (limit 3 per person).

Sleep

Work

Learn

• College of Europe

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

De Post is the national postal service of Belgium, with Dutch, French and German versions. They offer generally fast, reliable services. It's a relatively expensive service though, with normal domestic post (cards, letters etc) up to 50 grams costing €0.61. To other European countries it costs €0.93 and outside Europe it's €1.30. At the post offices, you can buy stamps and they have other services as well, including international money transfers. The opening times of post offices are 9:00am or 10:00am until 4:00pm or 5:00pm, depending on whether it's the main central one or a smaller branch or in towns. Some of them might be open on Saturday mornings, and remember that quite a few still close for lunch break! De Post also offers the sending of parcels, but you could also use private international companies like UPS, TNT or DHL, as they offer roughly the same services and prices, but are generally faster.