BRUGES (Ger. Brugge), a city of Belgium, capital of the province of West Flanders, is situated in a fertile plain about 8 m. from the sea, with which it is connected by the three canals from Ghent, L'Ecluse, and Ostend, the latter admitting the largest sea-going ships. Lat. 51° 12' n., long. 3° 14' e. B. derives its name from its many bridges, all opening in the middle to admit of the passage of vessels. The ramparts surrounding the city are an agreeable promenade. The streets have a venerable and picturesque appearance, but they are greatly deserted, the population of the city being now scarcely a quarter of what it was during the middle ages. Among the most interesting buildings are the town-hall, with a lofty tower and a celebrated set of 48 bells; a Gothic senate house, built about the close of the 14th c.; a court of justice, containing a fatuous carved chimney-piece of the date 1559; the church of Notre Dame, with its spire 450 ft. high, its many valuable paintings, and a statue of the Virgin (said to be by Michael Angelo), for which Horace Walpole offered 30,000 florins, and its splendid monuments of Charles the Bold and his daughter Mary, wife of the emperor Maximilian; the cathedral of St. Sauveur, not remarkable for its exterior, but containing paintings by eminent masters; St. John's hospital, with celebrated pictures by Memling, etc. The academy of painting contains several fine pictures by J. van Eyck. B. has manufactures of woolen, linen, cotton, lace, leather, cordage, and tobacco; and distilleries, sugar and salt refineries, and ship-building yards. Railways connect B. with Ostend, Ghent, and other cities of
Belgium and the continent. Pop. '76, 45,097, of whom nearly a third are paupers. B. is a very ancient city. Here, it is said, St. Chrysolus preached the gospel as early as the 3d century. In the 7th c., B. was the capital of the surrounding district called Flanders, and before the conquest of England by the Normans, its commercial impor tance was established. In the beginning of the 13th c., it was the central mart of the Hanseatic league; and in the following century it may be said to have become the metropolis of the world's commerce. Commercial agents from 17 different kingdoms resided here, and no less than 20 ministers from foreign courts had mansions within its walls. Its population at this time amounted to upwards of 200,000. In 1488, the citizens rose in insurrection against the archduke Maximilian, and with the harsh measures of repression which ensued, commenced the commercial decline of Bruges. Many of the traders and manufacturers. driven forth from their own country, settled in England, and from this time may be dated the beginning of English manufacturing superiority. In the 16th c., however, the tapestry of B. was still celebrated throughout Europe, and the famous Gobelin tapestry of Paris is said to owe its origin to a manufacturer of Bruges. The city was taken by the French in 1794, and soon after incorporated with the French empire; but in 1815 it became a part of the kingdom of the United Nether lands, and in 1830 of the Belgian monarchy.