The Gothic Hall
A gilded vaulted wooden ceiling of 1400 and murals.
Marc Ryckaert — CC BY-SA 4.0 · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jebulon — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Balou46 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Bruges' City Hall is among the oldest town halls in the Low Countries (1376–1421) and the loveliest: a Flamboyant Gothic façade on the Burg like stone lace, with soaring windows, small turrets and 48 niches for statues of the counts and countesses (the originals destroyed by French revolutionaries, the present ones nineteenth-century) — the model for the town halls of Brussels and Leuven. The interior is visited: the "Gothic Hall" on the first floor with its gilded, vaulted wooden ceiling hung with astonishing precision (1400) and nineteenth-century romantic murals telling Bruges' history, and a historical room explaining how the city was governed. A short, elegant visit. The ticket includes the adjoining "Liberty of Bruges" hall with its huge Renaissance chimneypiece of wood and marble (1531) honouring Charles V. On the Burg — half an hour on the square's route, with the neighbouring basilica.
A gilded vaulted wooden ceiling of 1400 and murals.
Flamboyant Gothic with 48 niches — Brussels' model.
Huge Renaissance wood and marble (1531) in the adjoining hall.
Burg 12, 8000 Bruges
Basilica of the Holy BloodThe Basilica of the Holy Blood is two churches one above the other in a corner o1 minute walk4.7
Brugse Vrije PalaceA building on the Burg Square that served as the seat of the Brugse Vrije, a lar1 minute walk4.4
Burg SquareThe Burg is Bruges' second and oldest square: here the Count of Flanders built h1 minute walk4.8
RozenhoedkaaiThe Rozenhoedkaai ("Rosary Quay") is Bruges' most famous and most photographed v1 minute walk4.7
Vismarkt (Fish Market)A colonnaded market square in central Bruges, built in 1821 to move the fish tra1 minute walk4.1The façade from outside is the main thing and free. Entering (a reasonable fee) gives you the Gothic Hall with its exceptional ceiling — twenty minutes worth it for the architecture and history lover, and the Liberty chimneypiece is a pleasant extra. Short on time: the façade and the neighbouring basilica, and save the ticket for the Groeninge.