Bruges - Day 2 morning

Bruges - Day 2 morning

The Belfry at Bruges



Well, I really "did" Bruges today and tonight I'm totally stuffed!!!! I walked and walked and walked and even then I still didn't mange to do all the things I wanted to do, but I gave it a fair crack...

In the morning, I did the more religious and historical things and in the afternoon I went for the Brewery tour!!!

So the day started with a nice brekky which was included in my package deal. The weather was a bit Melbourne-ish today - started off raining, then the sun came out, then it rained again - on and off all day. But I didn't get really wet at all...

First stop was the Basilica of the Holy Blood which was situated in the Markt (Market Square) about 100 m from my hotel.
This Church is famous for its relic of the blood of Christ, which according to tradition was brought to Bruges in 1150 after the second crusade.
There are a number of ornate vessels which house the relic...

There is also some lovely art work there

And there is also one more candle there too, although its probably burnt out by now....

Next pics are of some of the local handiwork - neither really interested me....

Choccies by their thousands!

Local lace

The next thing on my list  was to see the statue of Madonna and Child by Michelangelo (are you reading this Year 8/9s?). It is thought to be the only statue of Michelangelo to leave Italy during his life time. It was amazing to gaze on such a piece of history

 

Again there were many beautiful art works just hanging on the walls in each of the Churches and museums that I visited...

 

The Last Supper by Pieter Pourbus

 

Straight across the road from this Church was St John's hospital building, which is now a museum and houses the Memling museum.

There was quite a bit about the nuns who were the original nurses, and this one caught my eye..

 

I tried to look intelligent as I looked at  all the art and my little guide book helped....

St Ursula Shrine

This was supposed to house the mortal remains of St Ursula, and was decorated by Memling.

St John's altar piece - aka the mystical marriage of St Catherine

Sick and dying patients lay in their beds in the hospital and looked at this colourful 3 part work which sat atop the hospital's high altar. (According to my guide book!)

I have heaps of other pics of famous paintings, but it will make this post too long, so at some stage I'll just put them on line in case any one would like to see them.



After all that "kultcha" I needed a break!

Just along the street were these alms houses

Alms houses

They were built by the philanthropists for the poor people - but there was a catch... the poor people were expected to spend most of the day praying for their benefactor...

My next stop I had to search for a bit, but it was worth the effort...

Begijnhof

The Begijnhofs were built to house women of the lay order called "Beguines" who spent their life in piety and service without having to take the same vows a nun would. Because of military fatalities it appears there were more women than men in the medieval Low Countries, so these places offered them a dignified place to live and work. They eventually died out, and the one in Bruges is now inhabited by the Benedictine Sisters who invite people to join them in prayer.

It had a wonderfully peaceful surrounds

I found another statue of Our Lady of Mercy - this time called "Our Lady of Consolation". In the handout I bought it says

Our Lady of Spermalie (1240)
This is the oldest statue of Our Lady in Bruges. It is known as Our Lady of Consolation.

So, of course, more candles were lit.

The grounds were beautiful.. and there was a little cloister in the museum area..

Grounds of Begijnhof

Cloister

And this place literally gave me shelter. Whilst I was there, the heavens  opened and it just bucketed down, so I just stayed beneath the arch way and waited out the rain.  I'm sure it gives shelter in more ways than one!

This is getting a bit long so I might start a new post for the afternoon session...