1/ After a long hiatus, last month we finally visited my home town of #Bruges. I was moved by its beauty, and inspired by its traditional architecture and highly functional urbanism.
2/ Nearly all of Bruges' construction has gone through a darwinian grind, where only that what's firm, functional, and beautiful survives. Even the floor & street pavement reflects that.
3/ Nearly everything that stands is built out of simple bricks baked from clay — incredibly versatile, durable, and repair-friendly. Featured here is the Church of Our Lady, 13th-15th C, with 115m the third tallest brickwork tower in the world.
4/ The city lives and breathes history. On the excavation site, a digging archeologist told us they were already finding skeletons from the 12th century. On the 15th C Gentpoort, a plaque reads "Through this gate in September 1944, the Germans left the city."
5/ During the night, the traditional architecture, with its simple organic curves, shines even more.
6/ Getting around on foot is incredibly easy. If you live / stay downtown, you'll find four or five supermarkets within a ten minute walk.
7/ A few more photos. The first one is the Jan van Eyck Square, where my great-grandmother ran a newspaper store for over five decades. Behind the bronze statue is where my grandparents had their first kiss, in the early 1950s.
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