Belfry of Bruges
Three times gutted by fire, three times rebuilt — and still leaning 87 cm to the east.
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Standing in the Markt since 1240, this 83-metre tower lost its wooden spire to lightning in 1493, grew another, then lost that one to fire in 1741. The spire was never replaced, leaving the blunt stone parapet you see today. Climb 366 steps and you are standing where watchmen once scanned the city for flames — the very thing that kept destroying the building below them.
What to look for
- The octagonal upper stage, added between 1483 and 1487 — the last major build before the spires started disappearing
- The openwork Gothic Revival stone parapet at the summit, added in 1822 as a replacement crown after the final spire burned in 1741
- The eastward lean, visible if you step back into the square — the tower tilts 87 centimetres off vertical
Entry fee required to climb; a narrow, steep staircase of 366 steps leads to the top — the tower is accessible from the Markt in the centre of Bruges.
Belfry of Bruges is one of 10 sights worth the detour in Bruges, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Bruges pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Bruges
- Jan Breydel StadiumTwo fierce rivals share one city-owned bowl — whoever plays tonight, 29,042 seats make their case loudly.
- Madonna of BrugesThe Christ child looks ready to walk away — and Mary isn't trying to stop him.
- Church of Our LadyThe third-tallest brick church tower in the world marks the spot where a Michelangelo marble and two Burgundian royal tombs share the same Gothic nave.
- GroeningemuseumSix centuries of Flemish painting — Van Eyck's 1436 altarpiece to Magritte — inside a single building on the site of a medieval abbey.
- Basilica of the Holy BloodA crusader brought a relic of the Holy Blood to Bruges in 1150 — it still sits upstairs in the same chapel he built.
- Sint-SalvatorskathedraalA parish church for nine centuries, it only became Bruges's cathedral in 1834 because the French demolished the original — then its roof burned down five years later.