Burg Square is a square and former fortress in Bruges. It is one of the main squares of the city.
Burg Square is a square and former fortress in Bruges. It is one of the main squares of the city.
The Burg was originally surrounded by walls and had entrance gates. It is one of the oldest parts of the city centre. The fortress was located at the meeting-point of the Oudenburg-Aardenburg Roman road (the Zandstraat) and the Reie canal. [1] The fortress was around one hectare in size. Count Arnulf I of Flanders (889-965) extended the Bruges fortress to create a powerful, imperial administrative centre of one and a half hectares. Steen Castle, which was one of the residences of the Counts of Flanders, was located on the western side of the square from the 11th century until the end of the 13th century. The castle church—which was dedicated to Our Lady and Saint Donatian—was built to the north, within the fortifications, and a chapter of canons was later established. This gave the fortress a dual purpose: the southern part served a civil purpose and the northern part was religious. When Bruges became a diocese in 1559, Saint Donatian’s Church became a cathedral. [2] [3]
The demolition of the cathedral doubled the size of the square to around 1.1 hectares, making it even larger than the Markt. However, it remains divided into two distinct adjoining areas.
Nowadays, the square is surrounded by historic buildings including the former Manor of the Franc of Bruges, the former Civil Registry, the City Hall, the Basilica of the Holy Blood and Saint Basil Chapel and the former Provostry of Saint Donatian. [4]
Some of the foundations of Saint Donatian’s Cathedral, which was demolished in 1799, can still be seen in the cellars of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
There is a short street connecting Burg Square and Philipstockstraat—this is the Burgstraat.
Charles the Good was Count of Flanders from 1119 to 1127. His murder and its aftermath were chronicled by Galbert of Bruges. He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in 1882 through cultusconfirmation.
Het Steen is a medieval fortress in the old city centre of Antwerp, Belgium, one of Europe's biggest ports. The surviving structure was built between 1200 and 1225 as a gateway to a larger castle of the Dukes of Brabant which was demolished in the 19th century. As the first stone fortress of Antwerp, Het Steen is Antwerp's oldest building and used to be its oldest urban centre. The words "Het Steen", are dutch for The Rock.
St. Salvator's Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Bruges, Belgium. The cathedral is dedicated to the Verrezen Zaligmaker and Saint-Donatius of Reims.
The Procession of the Holy Blood is a large religious Catholic procession, dating back to the Middle Ages, which takes place each Ascension Day in Bruges, Belgium. In 2009, it was included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Jan Breydel is credited with leading the Bruges Matins, a violent uprising against Philip the Fair. He is said to have played a major role in the Franco-Flemish War, even though his authenticity has since been questioned.
The Battle of Beverhoutsveld took place on 3 May 1382, on a field situated between the towns of Beernem, Oostkamp and Assebroek. It marked an important phase in the rebellion of Ghent against Louis II, Count of Flanders.
The Diocese of Bruges is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels, which covers all of Belgium.
The Basilica of the Holy Blood is a Roman Catholic basilica in Bruges, Belgium. The church houses a relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea and brought from the Holy Land by Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders. Built between 1134 and 1157 as the chapel of the Count of Flanders, it was promoted to a minor basilica in 1923.
St. Donatian's Cathedral was a Roman Catholic cathedral in Bruges, Belgium. Located on the Burg, one of the main squares in the city, it was the largest church in Bruges. The cathedral was destroyed in 1799 in the wake of the dissolution of the Diocese of Bruges during the aftermath of the French Revolution.
The Brugse Vrije was a castellany in the county of Flanders, often called in English "the Franc of Bruges". It included the area around Bruges, and was bordered by the North Sea, the Westerschelde and the Yser river. The city of Bruges was separated from the castellany in 1127. Since then the city and the Vrije were considered as separate customary law areas. The Brugse Vrije was a rich agricultural region. It had its own burgrave, who was seated at the Burg, a square in Bruges, and became part of the Four Members of Flanders at the end of the 14th century, together with the three major cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres. The Brugse Vrije sat in the meetings of the States of Flanders.
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population.
The Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde is the only preserved beguinage in the Belgian city of Bruges. There are no more Beguines living there, but since 1927 it has functioned as a convent for Benedictines, founded by canon Hoornaert. In the same year the houses at the west side were also reshaped and enlarged into the Monasterium De Wijngaard, a priory of Benedictine nuns.
Eekhout Abbey was a medieval house of Augustinian Canons in Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium.
Male Castle, Bruges. A community of the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre. It originated in Bruges in the 11th century, and between 1954 and 2013 was settled in Male Castle in Male, Sint-Kruis, Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium.
The City Hall of Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium, is a landmark building and the seat of that city. Built in a late Gothic monumental-style between 1376 and 1421, it is one of the oldest city halls in the former Burgundian Netherlands. It is located on Burg Square, the area of the former fortified castle in the centre of Bruges.
The following is a timeline of the history of the municipality of Bruges, Belgium.
Mathias Lambrecht (1539–1602) was the third bishop of Bruges.
Het Steen was a medieval building on the Burg Square in Bruges, Belgium. Between the late 11th and late 13th centuries, it served as the residence of the Counts of Flanders.
The Provostry of St. Donatian is a Baroque building on the Burg Square in Bruges, Belgium. Built in the 17th century, it served as the headquarters of the ecclesiastical seigniory of St. Donatian.
The Old Civil Registry is one of the oldest Renaissance buildings in Flanders. It is located on Burg Square in Bruges, between the Manor of the Franc of Bruges and the City Hall.