Belfry of Bruges

 The Belfry of Bruges is a medieval bell tower built around 1240. The city at the time of construction was an important trading centre and the tower was home to the city archives, these however were lost when a fire swept through the tower in 1280. The belfry has suffered from fire damage on at least another 2 occasions and is lower than it's historic height due to these fires destroying the wooden spires that sat atop the tower. The Belfry has housed the municipal archives, a treasury, and acted as an observation post throughout its history. The Belfry also formally hosted a market hall and has an enclosed courtyard to the rear. The observation platform giving outstanding views of the city at a height of approx 272feet is reached by a narrow staircase 366 steps.

Since 1999 the Belfry has been a UNESCO world site and featured in the IN Bruges film staring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes.

The pictures were taken in November 2015 using a polaroid is2132 bridge camera, clicking any image should open a link in another window to the higher resolution, un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

The Belfry from the market square.

The courtyard to the rear.

The Belfry from the Historium.



City Hall pictured from the Tower.


The clock mechanism.

The courtyard.

Market Square from the Tower.

View across Bruges.



St Salvator's Cathedral.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

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