Belfry of Bruges

One thing I learned about Belgium is that most of the larger towns seem to have a very tall belfry, usually at the town hall. This is quite a unique situation since most tall towers in medieval era were usually church belfries. The famous belfries of Belgium are secular in nature and I must admit that I was quite surprised by this fact. Bruges actually has a few very tall towers. One of them we have already seen and that was religious in nature but this one is the old market hall. As you might expect, the belfry is used to spot invaders coming from afar. However, I would pity the people who have to climb up to the top. Then again, maybe they have lifts for that, manually driven of course.

The belfry is actually part of two UNESCO world heritage sites. The entire Bruges is already listed as the Historical Center of Bruges and the belfry is part of the Belfries of Belgium and France listing. I don’t know of too many places which have this double distinction. I guess, it is a testament to the importance of the tower. I didn’t get a chance to climb the tower, I wasn’t even sure if it was possible. The tower is a major landmark in the town and it can be see from all over the town and it is included in the signature photo of the town.

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