BRUGES, a city of Belgium, capital of West Flanders, at the junction of the canals from Ghent, Ostend, and L'Ecluse, 7 miles from the North Sea, and 60 miles N. W. of Brussels; lat. 51° 12' 30" N., long. 3° 13' 44" E. The city has a cir cumference of nearly 4% miles, and is entered by six gates. Many large and noble ancient mansions and spacious pub lic edifices present their pointed gables to the streets, and afford interesting specimens of the ornamental Gothic ar chitecture of the Middle Ages. Among the most remarkable public edifices are the Cathedral of Notre Dame (Onser Vrouw), the old Gothic Hospital of St. John, and the elegant church of St. Saviour. In the great square is a lofty Gothic tower or belfry, the most beautiful in Europe, and its chimes are harmoni ous. In this tower there are 48 bells, some weighing six tons; they are played upon every quarter of an hour by means of an immense copper cylinder communi cating with the clock, and weighing about nine tons. Its surface is pierced by 30,500 square holes, so that an infinite variety of airs may be set upon it, by merely shifting the iron pegs that lift the hammers. The Ostend canal presents an expanse of surface that resembles a stately river. There are many bridges across the numerous canals, by which the streets are intersected; hence, the Flem ish name of the place—BrUgge, that is, bridges; in French, Bruges. The chief manufactures before the World War were woolens, linens, cottons, lace, dye works, sugar refineries and ship building yards. The lace manufacture is the most
important. From the 7th century Bruges was rapidly acquiring importance. Dur ing the government of the rich and powerful Counts of Flanders, who re sided there from the 9th to the 15th cen turies, its woolen manufactures grew and flourished to an amazing extent. Under the Austrian dynasty, at the close of the 15th century, the rebellious con duct of the inhabitants of Bruges called upon it such destructive vengeance that henceforth its greatness died away, its trade was transferred to Antwerp, and the religious persecution and ferocity of the Spanish under Philip II. and the Duke of Alva completed the process of its ruin. Early in 1904, a new canal was inaugurated, extending from Zeebrugge, a port on the North Sea, 14.29 miles N. of Ostend, to the city, a distance of 7.49 miles. Pop. about 54,000. In the World War (1914-1918) the Germans occupied Bruges in the fall of 1914 and held it to the close of the conflict. With Zeebrugge it became a submarine base for attacks on British channel shipping. In the bom bardment of the city by the Germans in 1915 many famous buildings were dam aged or destroyed. These included the Hotel de Ville, Les Halles, with a famous belfry, and the ancient Hospital of St. John, erected in the 12th century.