Traveltuesday: Bruges "The Market square & its history"

- December 01, 2020

Although 2020 wasn't a splendid year for travellers due to the Covid-19
pandemic, we tried to make the best of it.

During the staycation we visited some lovely cities in our home country,
Belgium with lots of history. Cities such as Ghent and Bruges.

The main square of the city of Bruges is without a doubt the Market
Square in Dutch called "Markt". It is the heart of the historical
city and has a surface of around 1 hectares.

At the south of the the square one of the main historical buildings of
Bruges is located: the Belfry.

Some history

The market of Bruges already attracted people in the 10th. century!

Around 1200 the first international fair was held. Around 1220 the first
Market Hall arose.

Since 1396 fish trade took place there. In 1709 an iron fish mine was
erected.

In the 13th. century the Belfry of Bruges was built. This was typical for
cities in Flanders. It was a symbol of freedom, wealth and urban power.

On 7 January 1430, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy married in Bruges
to Isabella of Portugal. She was the daughter of King John I of Portugal
and Philippa of Lancaster. On the market square tournaments were
held for the wedding.

The house Craenburg at the market square also is very famous. There
Maximilian of Austria was taken captive in 1488 by the people of
Bruges. As revenge Maximilian of Austria gave tradesmen the order
to go to Antwerp instead of Bruges. This started the decline of the
city.

Between 1807 and 1810 the square was called "Place Napoleon" after
Napoleon Bonaparte. Afterwards it was called "Grote Markt" and
nowadays just "Markt".

In the middle of a square a statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck
was erected in 1887. These were two local heroes who played in 1302
a key role in the resistance against the King of France. This resistance
ended in the Battle of the Golden Spurs. This was fought in Kortrijk.