Bruges

Cover Design for "Bruges-la-Morte" (©Wikipedia/collection Van Maele)

The third day of our trip was devoted to Brugge, or, as the Belgian author Georges Rodenbach described the city in his short symbolist novel of 1892, Bruges-la-Morte (The Dead Bruges).

  

Rather Bruges-la-Reflètende.

Our bus parked at Kanaaleland in the south. 

We walked over the red bridge, crossed the Minnewaterbrug, and strolled along Minnewater to the Begijnhof.

View of the Beguine courtyard from 1886, with its Begijnhofkerk. In the background is the steeple of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk.

Sisters crossing the inner square of their convent on their way to the Begijnhofkerk for a church service in 1974.

"A Beguine is a courageous, revolutionary woman."

Since 1240, the Beguines had been a thorn in the Church's side. In 1312, Pope Clement V banned this early emancipatory movement of widowed or unmarried women, and there were many.  

Between 1240 and 1565, 298 Beguine courts flourished in Flanders, including eight in Bruges alone.

A glimpse into a Beguine's little garden.

Born on June 4, 1822, lace maker Sofie Linseele keeps the Bruges tradition of handmade lace alive at the Beguinenhof at the age of 78.

You note horse-drawn carriages in the distance.

We continued, joined Katelijnestraat via Wijngaardstraat, and headed north to Bruges' Grote Markt.

Mariastraat jetty. The brick architecture of the buildings
is referred to as Vlaamse primitieven (Flemish Primitives).

Not just horse-drawn carriages, but also little boats invite visitors to take a sightseeing tour along Bruges' grachten (canals).

We passed Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk and stopped in front of the Gruuthusemuseum. It is housed in Lodewijk van Gruuthuse's palace. Lodewijk was not only rich but also a trusted councilor to Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy.

After the duke's death on the battlefield at the gates of Nancy, he also cared for Charles' daughter, Mary of Burgundy. Grateful for his support in the difficult times after her father's death, she appointed him chamberlain to her young son Philip.

Red Baron thought the horseman above the entrance honors Mary's husband,  Maximilian I, who took any effort to look after his gedechtnus (memory), but it is Lodewijk. The inscription reads Plus et en vous (There is more in you than you realize).

Bruges, too, would not be complete without the patron saint of bridges, St. Nepomuk.

The buildings lining the small passage to the Grote Markt date from 1614 and 1608; that is, they were built during the Tachtigjarige Oorlog (Eighty Years' War) between the Netherlands and Spain, which began in 1568 and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic.

We skipped the Grote Markt and went back to Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk to admire Michelangelo's De Heilig Maagd en het Kind,

When we entered the church, Barend van Orley's 1534 Triptych of the Passion over the high altar caught our attention.

Nearby are the sarcophagi of Charles the Bold and his daughter Mary, who died in a riding accident at the age of 24.

Then we entered the cappella sacra created in the 18th-century Baroque style. 

It enshrines the most celebrated art treasure of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk: a white marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Michelangelo around 1504.

It was time for a rest. Sitting outside, over a quick lunch, we observed the horse-drawn carriages fly by.

 

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