Right behind the Minnewater lies the Beguinage 'De
Wijngaard' (= the Vineyard). It is one of those typical areas in
Bruges where one can find more peace and quiet than in the
sometimes busy and overcrowded streets of the town center. The
Beguinage is a group of houses around a little garden covered with
large poplar trees. It was here that during the last seven
centuries lived the beguines of Bruges. In 1937 the beguinage
became a monastery for the Benedictine sisters who still live here
now.
The Beguinage of
Bruges was founded in 1245 by the Countess of Flanders, Margaretha
of Constantinopel, daughter of Count Baldwin who conquered
Constantinopel (now Istambul) during the crusades. In 1299, Philip
the beautiful of France, placed the Beguinage under his own rule,
thereby withdrawing it from the influence of the town magistrate.
Visitors enter the place via a
bridge over the canal. The entrance gate bears the date 1776. A
lot of houses, however, are much older than that. Most date from
the 17th and 18th century. Some houses were built in the 19th
century in neo-gothic style. In the southern part is a little dead
end street where still some houses of the 15th-16th century can be
found.
The largest and most impressive
house is situated in the left corner behind the garden. It was
here that the 'grootjuffrouw', or 'grand-dame' lived. It was she
who ruled over the beguinage. The original church of the 13th
century was destroyed by a fire in 1584. It was rebuild in 1609
and later again renovated in late baroque style.
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