Brugge

Brugge, city, Flanders Region, northwestern Belgium, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Zeebrugge, its port on the North Sea. Originally a landing place on the Zwijn estuary, into which the Reie River flowed, it was mentioned in the 7th century as the Municipium Brugense (a name derived from a Roman bridge over the Reie). Brugge’s intricate network of canals has led many to describe the city as the Venice of the North. After it was evangelized by St. Eloi, bishop of Noyon-Tournai, the first counts of Flanders built their castle there (9th century) against Norman invaders. By the 13th century the town held a monopoly on English wool, was a leading emporium for the Hanseatic League, and, with the other “members from Flanders” (Ghent and Ypres), virtually governed the entire province. After maintaining its independence despite an attack by France in 1302, it reached its commercial zenith in the 14th century. At that time it was one of the largest and most important cities in northern Europe. As the Zwijn estuary silted up in the 15th century, the city began to decline as a trade centre but remained brilliant and powerful as the court of the dukes of Burgundy (counts of Flanders from 1384) and as the artistic centre of the Flemish school of painting, until the religious and political struggles of the 16th century completed its eclipse.

It remained a sleepy medieval town until the construction of the port of Zeebrugge and the cutting of a connecting canal (opened 1907) revived trade and stimulated industry and tourism. It was occupied by the Germans in World Wars I and II; the harbour of Zeebrugge was raided by the British in 1918, and blockships were sunk in the canal to deny the use of the port to German submarines.

As a rail and canal junction, Brugge depends largely on tourism, but a relatively new industrial area in the north produces ships, electronic equipment, dies, yeast, and industrial glass. Spinning, weaving, and lace making are traditional.

Medieval remains in the city include the old Market Hall (13th–15th century), with a famous 47-bell carillon in the belfry, and the Town Hall (1376–1420). The Chapel of the Holy Blood (14th–16th century) contains the Chapel of St. Basil (1150) and a gold casket that is reputed to hold a few drops of Christ’s blood brought from the Holy Land in 1150. Other notable churches include the Cathedral of St. Salvator (12th–16th century); the Church of Notre Dame, containing the tombs of Mary of Burgundy and her father, Charles the Bold; and the Church of Jerusalem (1428), a replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Notable among numerous museums with collections of Flemish art and history are the Memling Museum in the 12th-century Hospital of St. John, the Groeninge Museum, and the 15th-century Gruuthuse mansion. The béguinage (a retreat for secular nuns; 1245) is one of the finest in Belgium. The medieval atmosphere of Brugge lends itself to pageantry, a notable example of which is the Procession of Holy Blood (on Ascension Day). Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 116,982.