Though it is a small city, there are a number of tourist places in Bruges. There are numerous churches, museums, squares (9 of them), bridges (the town has over 54 of them), parks, greens, lakes, canals, city gates, windmills, bell tower, city hall et al. It’s one amazing “medieval” package !
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 The Chapel of the Holy Blood (Heilige Bloed Basiliek) is where the small vial is kept which is believed to contain a piece of cloth stained with the blood of Christ said to have been wiped from his body by Jeseph of Arimathea, after the crucifixion. It was brought to Bruges [...]
This church is located in the Burg square near the Town Hall. It has two chapels. It has an ornate façade and has some small golden hued statues atop. It is a small chapel. The lower one is the St. Basil (a figure of the Greek church) chapel and a wide staircase leads to the [...]
CONTINUED FROM PART 1 The Madonna of Bruges depicts Mary with the infant Jesus. It is sculpted in marble. The statue depicts a seated Mary with the toddler Jesus trying to take a step and being lightly supported by Mary’s left arm and leg. It is exactly what toddlers do when they have just learned [...]
A little walk down Mariastraat onto Katelijnestraat and turning right into Wijngaardstraat one would come upon the Beguinage of Bruges and Wijngaardplein. The Beguinage is across the bridge over the canal. This is located just north of Minnewater. It is essentially rows of dwellings which were earlier used by the “Beguines”. There is a church, [...]
A good walk further south of the Markt Square, off Mariastraat is located the Church of our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk), famous for the amazing Michelangelo Sculpture of Madonna and the Child. The church dates back to the 13th century and even today this remains the tallest structure in the city with its tower at over 400 ft. [...]
The Belfry of Bruges or Belfort is a bell tower with history dating as far back as 1240 when construction was started on the halls and the tower. By 1280 it was ready. The structure included the four wings of the cloth hall and the square parts of the belfry. The square tower was crowned [...]
The first place any tourist will land up in Bruges is the Markt (Market) Square, the Grote Markt of Bruges. Next to it is another square called Burg. From Markt to Burg one can take the Breidelstr in the Wollestraat direction. There are number of lanes/streets leading to all directions from the squares. These are [...]
The best way to get around Bruges is to walk. The centre is only about 15 minutes walk from the station. Also there are buses leaving from the station every 10 minutes. There is also a taxi stand at the station. The buses would have the “Centrum” tag on it. For the centre one can [...]
For international travelers the airports most convenient for Bruges include Brussels airport (Zaventem) from where it takes about an hour, the Charleroi Airport towards the south of Brussels which is about an hour and half from Bruges and the Ostend Airport which is for charters and private jets. Bruges is very well connected by rail. [...]