Birthplace of the Flemish Primitives, 410 hectares of brick Gothic: the Historic Centre of Brugge

Background

Bruges, in West Flanders, was under a code orange storm warning this week, and its old centre is one of Belgium's World Heritage properties. UNESCO inscribed the Historic Centre of Brugge in 2000 under criteria (ii), (iv) and (vi). The property covers 410 hectares with a buffer zone of 168 hectares. It is a medieval town that has kept its historic street pattern, its canal network and its Gothic buildings while remaining a living city. Its features include the central Market Place with its belfry, the Beguinage, and historic hospitals and commercial buildings. Four of the twelfth-century city gates survive. UNESCO records Brugge as the birthplace of the Flemish Primitive school of painting, whose artists include Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling.