Bruges: a city full of wonders

Bruges: The Venice of the North

Bruges, located in the province of West Flanders, in the northwest of Belgium, is called the ‘The Venice of the North’ by a lot of people. It truly deserves this nickname since this extremely beautiful medieval town became a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Bruges, as one of the most picturesque cities in Europe, has a very rich history, going back almost 900 years ago, to 1128, when Bruges got its city charter. The name Bruges stems from the Old Norse word Bryggja, which means ‘landing stage’ or ‘port’ and may have the same origin as Norway’s Bryggen. At the beginning of the 13th century, Bruges was already part of the circuit of Flemish cloth fairs and the city’s entrepreneurs reached out to make economic colonies of England and Scotland’s wool-producing districts. The opening of the Bourse in 1309 turned Bruges into the most sophisticated mony market of the Low Countries. By the 15th century, the population rose to 40.000 inhabitants. By the late 1800s Bruges became one of the first tourist destinations attracting tourists worldwide (mainly British and French). Since then, international tourism grew steadily over the years, culminating in Bruges becoming ‘European Capital of Culture’ in 2002.

Nowadays some 120.000 people live in Bruges, of which 20.000 live in the historic centre of the city. All residents are enormously proud to be living in Bruges and are always very friendly and try to impress you every time with their charm and enthousiasm to show you around the city.