W Europe Travel

» Katrien Vander Straeten - Bruges

Thank you for alerting our readers to the beauty of Bruges!

It is such a lovely city! As a Belgian I know: we Belgians too keep going back, yearly if not more often. And whenever visitors ask me to recommend a museum or day trip in Belgium, I don't hesitate to insist that they go there. Especially Americans, Australians, and other “New-World-ers” are blown away by the sheer oldness of the place.

Do you know it was called Bruges-la-Morte (also Georges Rodenbach's title of his symbolist novel about a doomed love-affair the city), that is, “Bruges-the-Dead”. It prospered in the Middle Ages, became a very rich city, both historically and economically, but then the canal leading to the sea (its major source of income) silted up, and it slowly "died" over a span of a century. After that it was never interesting for industries to set up there, so it got spared the fate of so many other medieval towns, and so much was preserved. Only in the middle of the twentieth century was its touristic value recognized.

Right in the neighborhood - less than half an hour's drive from the city, and you can also bike it along the canal - is a town called Damme, where the medieval epic writer Jacob van Maerlant lived. The whole town is practically a museum devoted to him. Definitely worth a visit as well if you have the time!