BRUGES has a significant economic importance
thanks to its port. The historic city centre is a
prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Bruges
received its city charter on July 27, 1128 and new
walls and canals were built. Since about 1050,
gradual silting had caused the city to lose its
direct access to the sea. A storm in 1134,
however, re-established this access, through the
creation of a natural channel at the Zwin. The
new sea arm stretched all the way to Damme, a
city that became the commercial outpost for
Bruges.
With the reawakening of town life in the twelfth
century, a wool market, a woollens weaving
industry, and the market for cloth all profited
from the shelter of city walls, where surpluses
could be safely accumulated under the patronage
of the counts of Flanders. Bruges was already
included in the circuit of the Flemish cloth
fairs at the beginning of the 13th century. The
city's entrepreneurs reached out to make economic
colonies of England and Scotland's wool-producing
districts. In 1277, the first merchant fleet from
Genoa appeared in the port of Bruges, first of
the merchant colony that made Bruges the main
link to the trade of the Mediterranean.
The Bourse opened in 1309 (most likely the first
stock exchange in the world) and developed into
the most sophisticated money market of the Low
Countries in the 14th century.
Starting around 1500, the Zwin channel, which had
given the city its prosperity, also started
silting. The city soon fell behind Antwerp as the
economic flagship of the Low Countries. During
the 17th century, the lace industry took off, and
various efforts to bring back the glorious past
were made.
During the 1650s, the city was the base for
Charles II of England and his court in exile. The
maritime infrastructure was modernized, and new
connections with the sea were built, but without
much success. Bruges became impoverished and
gradually disappeared from the picture, with its
population dwindling from 200,000 to 50,000 by
the end of the 1800s.
In the last half of the 19th century, Bruges
became one of the world's first tourist
destinations attracting wealthy British and
French tourists.[clarification needed] Only in
the second half of the 20th century has the city
started to reclaim some of its past glory.
The port of Zeebrugge was built in 1907. The
Germans used it for their U-boats in World War I.
It was greatly expanded in the 1970s and early
1980s and has become one of Europe's most
important and modern ports. International tourism
has boomed, and new efforts have resulted in
Bruges being designated 'European Capital of
Culture' in 2002.
|
Just behind the Minnewater lies the Beguinage
entitled 'De Wijngaard' (left). It is
one of those typical areas in Bruges where one
can find more peace and quiet than in the
sometimes busy and overcrowded streets of the
town centre.
In 1937 the Beguinage became a monastery for the
Benedictine sisters who still live there. The
walled group of houses surround a garden
interspersed with large poplar and willow
trees.
The Beguinage was founded by the Countess of
Flanders in 1245 It was created to house those
people who believed in a purer, more mystical
religion than that espoused by the material and
formal aspirations of the regular clergy. They
were distrusted and often persecuted by the
church, but in the Netherlands and Belgium the
female followers of this "Beguine"
movement were tolerated and were allowed to live
in separate areas (the Beguinages). The Beguines
lived like normal nuns, but did not take the same
vows and they could leave if they so desired.
Most Beguinages that still exist are museums or
houses for the elderly,and are to be found in
northern Belgian cities.
The house and bridge (below) lies at the end of
the park between Gruuthuse and Onze-Lieve-Vrouw
Church. One 'authority' states that the bridge
was built by the 15th century lord of Bruges,
Lodewijk van Gruuthuse, to ford the canal between
the Gruuthuse backyard and Onze-Lieve-Vrouw, to
avoid walking around the canal when the family
went to church. Another says that the bridge
shown in the picture (St Boniface Bridge) was
built in 1910. 'You pays your money and.......!'
|
Because of its canals Bruges is often called 'The
Venice of the North'. The water situation in both
cities was, however, very different.
Venice was founded on islands in a lagoon of the
Adriatic sea.
Bruges lies deeper inland : that is, at least now
because in the five centuries B.C.E. the Flemish
coastline would have been flooded several times
by the North Sea. When the waters retreated they
left behind waterways through which ships could
reach the area where Bruges is now
situated.
The Flemish name 'Brugge' is probably derived
from the Latin, 'Rogia' (the Latin name of the
'Reie' river which flowed through Bruges) and the
Scandinavian 'Bryggia' which meant 'mooring
place'.
|
