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Location: Blogs Wallis Blog |
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| Posted by: supersi |
Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
I had read of Bruges that to step into the city’s Old Town was to step right back into the Middle Ages. It wasn’t an exaggeration. If I hadn’t watched myself I could’ve been photographed walking around with my mouth wide open half the time. Bruges was among the wealthiest cities in Europe during the Middle Ages, and as it was spared the ravaging of WWII, its monumental buildings and cobblestone streets remain largely untouched.
The city is thread together by a network of canals, and in the winter they sometimes freeze and allow for skating. Today was 10C and sunny, so didn’t get to inject any Canadiana into this pretty little European town this time.
In 1482, one building was used to imprison Crown Prince Maximilian of Austria. When the prince was later freed, being the brutish fellow that he was, he exacted a cruel and harsh punishment upon the poor citizens of Bruges: he commanded them (insert scary music here) to keep swans in the city’s canals… *forever*! Dun-dun-dunnnn – Noooo, anything but that! I spotted not a few Canadian geese amongst the swans, so where I failed to “inject Canadiana”, others succeeded. Good on ya, lads.
In the 15th century, Bruges was the centre of the Flemish textile trade and an important trading post. As such, it has a host of buildings from the period – guild halls, warehouses, exchanges, and wealthy merchant homes. The 350-plus photos I took really don’t do justice, but I’ll post when I get the chance :) |
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