The St Ursula Shrine
A golden reliquary with Memling's enchanting miniatures.
sailko โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท CEphoto, Uwe Aranas โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Dietmar Rabich โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Dietmar Rabich โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes โ the building itself, a medieval hospital with its huge wards and old pharmacy, is a historical experience of medical care before modern medicine that captivates everyone. And Memling is an easy entry to Flemish art: pictured stories with details read like a book. An hour suffices for the non-specialist.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet โ be the first.
St John's Hospital (Sint-Janshospitaal) is among Europe's oldest surviving hospitals โ founded in the twelfth century, it received the sick, pilgrims and the poor for eight centuries until 1978. Its huge medieval wards with wooden ceilings and stone arches are preserved as they were, and display the history of early medical care: patients' beds, surgical instruments, and the old pharmacy with its ceramic jars (seventeenth century) in its own wing. Its treasure is in its chapel: six masterpieces by Hans Memling, the great Flemish painter who lived in Bruges and gave them to the hospital โ most famous the "St Ursula Shrine", a golden reliquary painted with miniatures telling Ursula's legend in enchanting detail, and the great "St John Altarpiece". Among the world's finest Memling collections, in their original place. Opposite the Church of Our Lady โ combine them in one corner, and the combined Musea Brugge ticket includes it.
A golden reliquary with Memling's enchanting miniatures.
Wooden ceilings and stone arches from eight centuries of care.
Seventeenth-century ceramic jars in its wing.
Mariastraat 38, 8000 Bruges