14 
LAND &? WATER 
October 31, 1918 ^ 
The Glories of Bruges: By G. C. Williamson 
IT is indeed good 
news that we 
learn from recent 
telegrams when 
they tell us that 
the treasures of Bruges 
— both architectural, 
pictorial, and in metal 
work — are believed to 
be intact, as there are 
few towns of Flanders 
which were more rich 
in art work than was 
Bruges. 
It was curious, in 
visiting the quaint old- 
world quiet place, with 
its numerous canals 
and bridges, its silent 
streets, and faintly 
buzzing commerce to 
remember that, once 
upon a time, it had 
been the busiest port 
in Europe, the central 
mart of the Hanseatic 
League, the Venice of 
the North, the. most 
opulent town in Nor- 
thern Europe. 
Its decline as a 
commercial place was 
so complete ; the 
breaking up of the 
league, the silting of 
the Zwin River, the 
rise of British ports 
and British manufac- 
turing towns, had all 
helped to make it de- 
cline ; but it had fos- 
silised ■ so gracefully 
that a town of the 
fifteenth century it 
still remained, ex- 
quisite in appearance, unspoiled 
tion, and living its old, qtiiet. 
HOTEL DE VILLE 
A gem of Gothic architecture 
by manufacturers or restora- 
serious, Flemish life, in the 
midst of its treasures, 
as it had ever lived. 
Its quays and fac- 
tories were certainly 
there, and the places 
where the agents of 
the Medici, the Bardi, 
and the Fuggers, car- 
ried on rich commerce, 
remained ; but all 
were unfrequented, 
dignified in silence, 
and, by very reason 
of the slow ebbing 
away from Bruges of 
the trade that once 
made it so bustling 
and prosperous, the 
buildings and their 
treasures had rested 
in their mediaeval dig- 
nity untouched by- 
time, while the popu- 
lation about them had 
shrunken to a tenth 
of its original number. 
Its high - pitched 
beautiful houses still 
looked upon the 
canals, almost silent 
of traffic. 
Its Hotel de Ville, 
an exquisite gem of 
middle Gothic archi- 
tect\!ire of about 1380, 
faced a grand open 
square that, save on 
market or feast days, 
had few persons ex- 
cept tourists, guides, 
and . market women 
about it ; and the 
Chapel of the Holy 
Blood, to its right, 
a wopderful erection in 
the flamboyant work of the sixteenth century (say, 1530), 
was tlie abode of mystery and religious significance, and only 
BRUGES FROM THE CANAL 
