Bruges › Places and landmarks

Places and landmarks in Bruges

14 landmarks of Bruges, and the streets, squares and waterways around them, each with its story and where to find it.

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Photo: Ank Kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Landmarks

MarktBruges’ market square, with the Belfry on its south side and the Provincial Court on the east.

BelfryThe 83-metre belfry over the Markt: 366 steps up to its carillon of 47 bells.

BurgThe square of the city hall, the Basilica of the Holy Blood and the old court.

City HallOne of the oldest city halls in the Low Countries, begun in 1376, with a Gothic Hall full of murals.

Basilica of the Holy BloodA Romanesque chapel with a Gothic one above it, holding a relic of the blood of Christ.

RozenhoedkaaiThe most photographed corner of Bruges, where the canal turns under the Belfry.

GruuthuseThe palace of the lords of Gruuthuse, who could tax gruut, the herbs for brewing beer.

Church of Our LadyIts brick tower of 115 metres is one of the tallest in the world; inside is Michelangelo’s Madonna.

St Saviour’s CathedralBruges’ oldest parish church, which became its cathedral in the 19th century.

BegijnhofThe beguinage of 1245: white houses round a lawn of tall trees, still home to a community of nuns.

MinnewaterThe “lake of love” at the south end of the old town, with swans and a lock house.

Also part of Bruges

Horse carriagesHorse-drawn carriages clip-clop through the old town from the Markt.

Canal boatsLittle open boats glide along the reien, the canals of Bruges, under low bridges. Bruges laceBobbin lace, made by hand in Bruges since the 16th century.

Streets, squares and waterways

The places that hold the centre of Bruges together. Point at one to find it on the map.

The centre of Bruges, drawn from the same OpenStreetMap data as the game. The whole city on OpenStreetMap

1
Markt square
The market square at the heart of Bruges, under the Belfry, with the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck, the leaders of 1302.
2
Burg square
The square on the site of the counts’ fortress, with the Gothic City Hall and the Basilica of the Holy Blood.
3
Steenstraat street
The busy shopping street from the Markt west towards St Saviour’s Cathedral and ’t Zand.
4
Wollestraat street
The old wool street, from the Markt beside the Belfry south to the canal.
5
Blinde-Ezelstraat street
The ‘Blind Donkey Street’, a lane that runs through an arch from the Burg to the canal and the Vismarkt.
6
Rozenhoedkaai street
The quay on a bend of the canal with the best-known view of Bruges: old houses on the water and the Belfry behind.
7
Dijver street
A canal-side street under lime trees, with the Groeninge Museum and the Gruuthuse palace.
8
Huidenvettersplein square
A small square by the canal around the old guild house of the tanners, now full of restaurant terraces.
9
Vismarkt square
The fish market, with stone stalls under colonnades of 1821, where fishmongers still sell in the morning.
10
Groenerei street
A quiet quay along the canal, with the almshouse De Pelikaan.
11
The canals Reien waterway
The canals of Bruges, which once carried goods to the markets; open boats now take visitors along them.
12
Jan van Eyckplein square
The old inner harbour, with the medieval toll house, the merchants’ lodge and a statue of Jan van Eyck.
13
Mariastraat street
The street past the Church of Our Lady, with its 115-metre brick tower, and St John’s Hospital, home of the Memling paintings.
14
Begijnhof quarter
The béguinage, founded in 1245: white houses around a lawn under tall trees, where béguines, pious single women, once lived.
15
Minnewater waterway
The ‘Lake of Love’, once the basin where barges from Ghent moored, now a quiet lake in a park.

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