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While I never watched the movie, “In Bruges”  a quote from one of the main characters perfectly encapsulates my opinion of the town:

It’s a fairytale town, isn’t it? How’s a fairytale town not somebody’s #### thing?How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful #### fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody’s #### thing, eh?

Minus the expletives, which I have hashed out.  The town doesn’t deserve them – it is soo  lovely.  Bruges had a kind of fairytale beginning, giving it a head start – let me explain.

• Location, location, location  –  Water (once again) played a critical role in the success of the early settlements in this area.   Sandy soil of one side provided a natural barrier to the sea.   A river which had formed from the convergence of several streams flows right into the. North Sea tidal channels. The area  was all set to be a successful coastal town,  and it flourished with fishing,  cattle, peat and salt trades.
• Being part of the Roman Empire has its advantages – A Roman road that had been built  on the sand ridge bordering the coastal plain lead to a larger network of Roman roads.  The meeting of the road and the river proved to be an ideal place for a town to flourish.
• Marauders!  – Since the area was on the sea it was vulnerable to attack.  After the Roman Empire fell to the Germanic tribes, a Flemish lord built a fortress for protection against the Vikings.
• “Bruges”  –  By the 9th Century the town was known as Bruges. It is most likely a derivation of the Old Norse word for pier or landing point (bryggja) or from the Germanic (brugjo) which has a similar meaning.

Today, the area that housed the  fortress and castle of the Flemish Count is known as Berg Square:

Bruges is a treasure trove of medieval structures, canals, lakes as is its sister city, Ghent, which is now the capital and largest city of the East Flanders Province:

So much water – and the Hollanders know how to use it – coming up next!

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