Bruges: city of a thousand wonders
Bruges: Venice of the North by nature
When Bruges became 'European Capital of Culture' in 2002, this was the culmination of a very long and rich city history. Visiting this extremely beatiful medieval town will soon convince of the fact that Bruges truly deserves the nickname 'Venice of the North'. Bruges is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque cities in Northern Europe, and became a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Its history takes us back to almost an entire millennium ago: the name Bruges stems from the Old Norse word Bryggja, which means ‘landing stage’ or ‘port’ and may have the same origin as Norway’s Bryggen. In 1128, Bruges got its city charter and this led to the beginning of the rapid expansion. As soon as 1215, Bruges was already an crucial part of the Flemish cloth fairs circuit and the city’s entrepreneurship reached out to as far as England and Scotland’s wool-producing districts. About one hundred years later, the famous Bourse opened which turned Bruges into one of the most sophisticated mony markets of the entire Low Countries. The city kept growing throughout the centuries: by the 15th century, the population had risen to nearly 40.000 people. By the late 1800s Bruges became one of the first tourist destinations attracting tourists worldwide (mainly British and French). Since then, international tourism grew steadily over the years, culminating in Bruges becoming ‘European Capital of Culture’ in 2002.
Today about 120.000 people live in Bruges, 20.000 of them still live in the historic city centre. It's stunning how friendly the people in Bruges are and how many of them impress tourists every time with their charm and enthousiasm to show their city’s sights. You can almost sense their pride of having the privilige to be living in Bruges.
