Explore the "Van Gogh Way" Netherlands Belgium In-Depth Tour (40) - Love Bridge at First Sight and Bruges No. 1 High
Leaving the noisy market square and returning to the Rose Meridian Pier, the breeze is blowing and the years are quiet. The Dijver takes two 90-degree turns here, forming one of the most open and beautiful perspectives of Bruges, the novelist George W. Bush. Roddenbach must have been enchanted by the beauty of the place at that time, so in the novel "Silent Bruges", the protagonist's home was also placed here.
The Reie River that brought glory to Bruges at that time led from here to the North Sea, in the Celtic language Reie is called "holy water", and later people dug out artificial rivers, the "holy water" like a spider web in the city, the once busy river terminal has now become people's favorite boat tour project, in the film "Killer No Holiday", Ken took Ray and swam around in a boat, but it was a cloudy day.
Following the direction of the river flow, the tall minaret in the distance is the tallest in Bruges, which is taller than the bell tower, the 122-meter Church of Our lady, which is also the second tallest brick bell tower in the world (the first is St. Martin's Church in Landshut, Germany), because the church has a large collection of works of art, including Michelangelo's works, and is also regarded as the "high point" of medieval art, and our next stop is it.
From time to time, horse-drawn carriages carrying tourists pass by, and people who watch the scenery also become part of the landscape, forming an indispensable and elegant picture of this medieval ancient city.
Since Bruges is the "water city", there will naturally be many bridges, "Bruges" means "bridge" in Flemish, and it is said that it was named after one of the earliest ancient Roman bridges. Today, however, the bridge is long gone, and now the most famous is this stone bridge called the "Bridge of Love at First Sight".
Legend has it that stepping on this bridge, the first opposite sex oncoming will fall in love with you at first sight. This romantic prophecy leads every visitor to Bruges to take a trip to the bridge.
This seemingly old stone bridge is not old, built in 1910, originally called bonifaciusbrug, one end is connected to the church of Our Lady, the shape is quite quaint, Bruges repair the old as old, build the new as the old is quite skilled.
The narrow Baker's Canal (Bakkersrei) flows under the bridge, but the brick-red mottled houses on both sides and the flowers and grasses on the walls give this simple picture infinite tenderness. I didn't meet the opposite sex who fell in love at first sight on the bridge, but I fell in love with this scene at first sight.
Across the bridge is the apse on the east side of the Church of Our Lady. In 875, it was just a chapel, and after two hundred years of renovation and expansion from 1230, the Church of Our Lady became the style it is today.
Of all the churches I've ever seen, it's not exquisite, but the rugged red bricks, combined with the Scheide gothic minarets, give her a rustic beauty, the beauty characteristic of Bruges.
Inside the church is a Gothic with pointed vaults, but it is far less elaborate than the Church of Our Lady of Antwerp, which is after all a cathedral. On the columns of the nave are statues of the 12 Apostles, made in the 17th century.
The church of Our Lady of the Blessed Virgin mary is usually indispensable, and in the center of this baroque altar, the virgin holds the deceased Jesus and mourns.
Transparent glass is installed on part of the floor of the choir, showing the excavation of the coffin when it was built.
It was also the place where the members of the Golden Fleece Knights met, and today 30 Golden Fleece medals are still hanging here. The Knights of the Golden Fleece, founded in Bruges in 1430 by Philip III, Count of Flanders and Duke of Burgundy, modeled on the Knights of the Gard in England, had a limited number of members, initially 24, later expanded to 30, and eventually to 50.
The last meeting of the Knights of the Golden Fleece was held here in 1468, headed by the bold Charles, the son of the good man Philip, whose medal was the first on the left, and where the coffins of him and his daughter Mary were placed.
The bold Charles, like his father, was committed to making the Duchy of Burgundy an independent kingdom, and he maximized the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy by force and purchase, but also died under the city of Nancy because of his ambitions. His body is said to have been hacked to pieces and buried in a nearby church in Nancy, until his great-grandson, The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, transported his remains back to Bruges for burial in 1550, when the coffin was built by Charles V's son.
Next to charles the bold was his daughter Mary, who was charles's only heir, the countess of Flanders who was married to the Habsburgs in the previous article, and of course the duchess of Burgundy, but unfortunately died at the age of 25 from a hunting horse, and after her death caused the Coup d'état in Bruges.
The coffins of Charles and Mary face a triptych altarpiece with the main screen by Bernard van Orley, a Burgundy court painter, depicting "The Passion of Jesus." The sides were not a time, nor were they created by a painter, but were added by the Flemish painter Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder.
The stained glass windows depict stories from the Bible, which were used in almost all churches to make the Bible known to latin-unknown people, so they were also called "the Bibles of the Poor."
There is another sculpture that cannot be missed when you come to the Church of Our Lady of Bruges, that is, the "Madonna in the Arms of Jesus" carved by Michelangelo.
This Carrara marble sculpture was originally made by Xiaomi's classmates for the Cathedral of Siena in Italy, but was later bought by the two brothers of the Cloth Merchant Moscheroni family of Bruges for 4,000 gold Florins, and brought back to Bruges and placed on the family altar of the Church of Our Lady, showing how rich the merchants of Bruges were at that time.
This statue is a few years later than xiaomi's "Holy Death" carved for St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, but it is also a work of his very young age, less than 30 years old, Xiaomi classmate is a genius, there is no doubt. It is said that this statue is the only work of Xiaomi's classmates who left Italy before his death. When Napoleon occupied the site in 1794 and the Germans retreated in World War II in 1944, the statue was snatched away, but fortunately it was returned.
The chapel also houses two ancient sarcophagi excavated during construction in the 13th and 14th centuries.
One painting hanging on the wall is The Last Supper by Peter Pubbs, a Dutch painter active in Bruges during the Flemish Renaissance.
Many people on the Internet say that Bruges is like our Lijiang, full of people, but it is true that there are not many people in the church and it is quiet.
Although I am not a Christian, I am also at peace here.
Tips:
1. Church of Our Lady is open from Monday to Saturday from 9:30 to 17:30, sunday from 13:30 to 17:00, and ticket sales stop half an hour in advance.
2. Church of Our Lady: 4 euros, free with brugge city card
Next We go to see the oldest and largest church in Bruges. Don't want to follow the group! I don't want to travel poorly! How to enjoy the best experience during your trip at the most economical cost? More comfortable and comprehensive self-guided tours, self-driving tours, please pay attention to the "gluttonous little lady" who walks between sensibility and reason