The market square was introduced earlier, not far to the west, is the castle square, in fact, this is the historical birthplace of Bruges, earlier than the market square.
First, let's talk about why it's called Castle Square.
In the first century BC, after Caesar conquered Gaul, he established fortresses in this area, mainly to guard against pirates from Britain across the strait, and the inhabitants at that time were mainly Romans and assimilated Gaules. In the 4th century, the Western Roman Empire began to decline, and the Franks came here. In the 9th century, in order to prevent the invasion of vikings (pirates) from the north, Arnufer I, Count of Flanders at that time, built a closed castle, and then developed into the future city of Bruges with the castle as the center, and later Bruges had a city wall, and the castle was replaced by subsequent buildings, but the original location of the castle and the surrounding buildings formed the castle square.
The post-Gothic building on the south side of the square is the stadhuis van brugge, built in 1376-1421, mainly where the city councils worked, and the earliest town hall in the entire Netherlands.
Part of the town hall can be visited as a museum, and I don't have time to look closely. However, from the more than 600 years of architecture itself, we can also see the prosperity of Bruges at that time.
The roof of the town hall
Next to the town hall, it used to be a registration office, probably handling registration matters related to the citizens.
On the other side of the town hall, there is a very important church.
The church is called basilica of the holy blood (illig-bloedbasiliek). Originally built in the 12th century, the private chapel of Theodoric, Count of Flanders, during the Crusades, leading a team to participate in the Crusades was a must for every noble knight, and count Flanders was naturally no exception. In 1148, he took part in the Second Crusade and assisted his brother-in-law Baldwin III in the siege of Damascus (unsuccessful). He arrived in the holy city of Jerusalem in 1156 and, on his return to Bruges in 1159, brought back from the Holy Land the "Holy Blood" of Jesus (said to have been sent by Baldwin III). The so-called holy blood, I think, may have been the blood that came out of the ribs of Jesus by Longinus's spear. There are no details in the Bible, and many are medieval legends. As for whether it is true or not, just like the fragments of the cross of Jesus enshrined in many churches in Europe, it is said to be able to make up a forest.
The gilded figure holding a sword on the front of the church, on the lower right side of the picture, is Theodoric, Count of Flanders, who brought back holy blood from the Holy Land. Although the church is small, it is designated by the Vatican as a minor basilica.
The interior of the church is not large, but the decoration is very stunning and beautiful. Because it is limited to taking pictures, I only took one casually. The vial containing the holy blood is offered in front of the main altar.
The church has two upper and lower floors, and the lower level is the Chapel of St. Basiliu, which is said to enshrine part of the bones of San Basiliu. St. Basiliu was a theologian of the East in the fourth century, a Christian saint, and one of the four great teachers of the East.
The building shown below is the Crowne Plaza Hotel Bruges, a modern building.
However, the hotel's original location was a famous cathedral in Bruges that has disappeared, St. Donatine Cathedral (st. donatian's cathedral), of course the location of the hotel is only a small part of the cathedral.
The cathedral was built in 950 to enshrine the remains of the Christian saint St. Donatine, archbishop of Amiens in the 4th century AD, with a great influence in France and Flanders, and in 863 AD, Baldwin I, Count of Flanders, brought the remains of St. Donatine from Amiens to Bruges, and later enshrined in the church here. The Church of St. Donatine at that time was the largest church in Bruges and was the cathedral of the diocese.
In 1799, the army of the First French Republic occupied Belgium, dissolved the parish, and razed the cathedral to the ground.
Hundreds of lords, nobles and celebrities of Bruges were buried in this cathedral in history, and in 1441 the famous painter Jan Berger was buried in this cathedral. every. Ike is also buried here.
In the 20th century, during the construction of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, the foundations of the original cathedral were excavated, and the underground part of the hotel still retains the foundation ruins of the church.
The Baroque building on the right side of the picture below is the sint-donaasproosdij, the original cathedral supporting building, the archbishop's official residence and the ecclesiastical office. The empty space between the Imam Building and the Crown Hotel is the main location of the original cathedral. The picture shows that the Bruges Bell Tower is very close.
The current Imam Building was built in 1665 in the typical Baroque style to counter the Reformation.
Bradell Street in front of the Imam Building connects Castle Square and Market Square.
Chocolate shop on the street.
Come and have a try.
Horse-drawn carriages became the main means of transportation.
Female coachman and tour guide
Street performers, I don't know what kind of instrument it is.
An 18th-century neoclassical building on the east side of the square, brugse vrije, is not sure if it is appropriate to call it the Freedom Building in Bruges.