Market Square
Cobbled medieval square where Hanseatic merchants once traded, ringed by stepped gables and a leaning bell tower.
This guide to Market Square in Bruges begins with a fire that gutted the old cloth hall in 1280 and the stone belfry built in its place, still leaning slightly today. It traces the square's rise after Genoese ships reached the Zwin channel in 1277, turning this cobbled rectangle into one of Europe's busiest trading floors, where Italian bankers, English wool buyers and Hanseatic agents did business. You'll hear how that money funded the Burgundian court and painters like Jan van Eyck. Watch for the belfry's tilt as you cross the square, a clue to ground that has been settling for centuries.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.