Page 228 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

226  FR ANCE AND THE L OW C OUNTRIES

3 Street by Street: Bruges

With good reason, Bruges is one of the most popular tourist
destinations in Belgium. The city owes its pre-eminent
position to the beauty of its historic center, where winding
lanes and picturesque canals are lined with splendid medieval
buildings. These are mostly the legacy of the town’s heyday as
a center of the international cloth trade, which flourished for
200 years from the 13th century. During this golden age,
Bruges’ merchants lavished their fortunes on fine mansions,
churches, and a set of civic buildings of such extravagance M A R K T
that they were the wonder of northern Europe. Today, the
streets are well maintained: there are no billboards or high-
rises, and traffic is heavily regulated.

S T E E N S T R A A T L O P P E M S T R

The Dijver River
A charming introduction to A A T O U D E B U R G
Bruges is provided by the boat S I
trips along the city’s canals. M O N

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W
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S K E R K H O F A A
Bus and T
train stations
Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk
Dating from 1220, the Church of
Our Lady employs many styles of
architecture and contains a Madonna
and Child by Michelangelo.
Memling in Sint-Jans-
hospitaal Museum
This 12th-century
hospital operated until
1976. It contains a
well-preserved 15th-
century dispensary.
For hotels and restaurants see p234 and p235
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