UNESCO Site – Bruges, Belgium

Bruges is called : ‘the Venice of the North’. This splendid medieval city is one of Belgium’s crown jewels. In no other European city the feel and the look of medieval times are so present as here in this city close to the North Sea.

Remaining almost unchanged by the ravishes of time, the port city of Bruges (Brugge) has become a leading Belgian tourist attraction in its own right and is amongst the very best-preserved of Europe’s medieval cities. Now classed as a ‘European City of Culture’, central Bruges contains two rather beautiful main squares, the Grote Markt and also the Burg, where the tourist information office is situated.

Suspended in time centuries ago, Bruges is now one of Western Europe’s most-visited medieval cities. Picturesque market squares, dreamy canals and old whitewashed almshouses all evoke a world long since gone. But its reputation as one of the most perfectly preserved cities is in part fabrication. Bruges has been renovated time and again to retain its medieval appearance. Whereas what you see reflects that of centuries ago, much of the architecture dates only from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Each year, well over two million visitors arrive in Bruges to marvel at the tourist attractions, of which there are many. However, in the very height of the summer tourism season, the influx of tourists can make Bruges feel a little crowded, although a large proportion are often day trippers and are long gone by the late afternoon. At this time you can enjoy a far more peaceful stroll around the relatively compact centre and enjoy the sprinkling of sights, encompassed by the city’s rather scenic oval-shaped moat.

The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is egg-shaped and about 430 hectares in size. The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares, including 193.7 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (“Seabruges” in literal translation). The city’s total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of which around 20,000 live in the historic centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km² and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.

Today’s Bruges has a population of about 45.000 people (the old center) or 120.000 people (center together with the suburbs). These numbers clearly show that Bruges is not a tiny miniature city. It ranks, even today, among the important cities of Belgium. It is also the capital of the Belgian province of West-Flanders. A lot of people take day-trips from Brussels to Bruges, but there is to much to see here to fill only 1 day. The best way to visit Bruges is to spend at least one night in one of the many beautiful and cozy hotels. Later in the evening, when all the tourists have gone, Bruges finds back its charm and quiet of old times. When one is lucky with the weather, a stroll through the tiny medieval streets can be an enchanting experience. Bruges is always beautiful, in the summertime as well as in the wintertime. Lucky visitors will never forget the city after they have seen it on a snowy December or January day.

Bruges is unique, in the sense that here the town authorities have done the utmost to preserve the medieval-looking image of the city. Of course, not every stone in Bruges has come to us straight from the Middle-Ages. The 19th century neo-gothic style is more present than one should think. Because of these 19th century renovations, some critics have put Bruges down as a ‘fake’ medieval city. Nevertheless, the combination of old, not so old and new fascinates everyone who first sets foot in Bruges.

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