Bruges Has Come of Age as Belgium’s Showplace : BRUGES

Natural disasters come in all shapes and sizes, and as was the case with Italy’s Pompeii and Herculaneum when Mt. Vesuvius blew its lid, whole cities can pass into history with little more than a whimper.

Bruges’ disaster was less catastrophic in terms of lives lost, but for about five centuries it reduced this Flemish jewel on the Zwin River to a mere rubric on the pages of European history.

Until the mid-14th-Century, Bruges was one of Northern Europe’s greatest trading centers thanks to its location as a deep-water port just a few miles inland from the North Sea on the Zwin. It surpassed such cities as Antwerp, Rotterdam and other thriving ports, accumulating art, architectural treasures and all the other pomp and perquisites that wealth and power brought to its door.

But nature had a disaster up its sleeve.

About 1350, the Zwin began to silt up and it wasn’t too long before the river’s channel was more suitable for skiffs than deep-draft trading ships. The centuries-old recession hit hard, with many natives leaving for jobs elsewhere as the city went downhill economically.

So while other more prosperous cities tore down and built anew, Bruges was locked in time, too poor to destroy its treasures in the name of progress. The effect was a bit like putting a priceless Old Master in a museum cellar, there to remain unseen and unappreciated, collecting dust for hundreds of years.

Then, in the late 19th Century when travel began to surge as an industry, someone decided to bring the masterpiece up from the cellar, perk it up with a few cosmetics that didn’t compromise its inherent beauty and put it on display for all to see.

Present-day Bruges is an absolute stunner--a magnificent medieval city of willow-lined canals, gorgeous old buildings, classic cobbled squares, quiet courtyards behind weathered stone walls and a huge marketplace that has been the town’s vital center since the 10th Century.

Owners of private homes or buildings who wish to refurbish their properties are paid a 50% subsidy to keep the place typically Brugean, whatever the period. And when the Holiday Inn people wanted to put a hotel in a 17th-Century building, city fathers approved the deal on the condition that the exterior remain pure 17th Century, which it is.

Bruges is now not only the showplace of Belgium, it has become one of the premier attractions in all of Europe. And while its canals may lie over the town like a piece of fine Belgian lace, don’t ever call it the “Venice of the North” within earshot of a native Brugean. They aren’t at all happy about the comparison, feeling that, give or take a little water, their city is unique in its beauty and tranquillity.

How long/how much? Bruges is worth at least two full days of anyone’s time. Given a choice, we would base in Bruges rather than Brussels for taking day trips to Rubens’ city of Antwerp and the equally art-laden medieval town of Gent. Belgium’s excellent trains will get you to either in no time. Lodging and dining costs have stayed on the same curve as most of Europe, so expect hotel rates to be high-moderate to expensive, with the bills in good restaurants running slightly lower.

Getting settled in: Bourgoensch Hof, a regal townhouse with only 11 bedrooms, is tucked quietly away in a lovely little courtyard beside a canal, just a short walk from Market (Markt) Square. Start the morning in the handsome beamed breakfast room. The restaurant (‘t Bourgoensche Cruyce) across the courtyard is considered one of Bruges’ finest.

Ter Brughe is another 15th-Century home in late-Gothic style, also on a quiet canal and a few steps from the town’s oldest bridge. The very comfortable bedrooms are rather eclectically furnished, and buffet breakfasts are excellent. A 10-minute walk gets you to Market Square. Ter Brughe and the neighborhood are old favorites of ours.

Oud Huis Amsterdam (Old Amsterdam House) combines two 16th-Century townhouses into a fairly new addition to the Bruges hotel scene. Beside the pretty Spiegelrei Canal, this one is a little closer to the center than Ter Brughe. The hotel has a pleasant garden and terrace and all of the amenities, including color TV and Jacuzzis in some baths.

Regional food and drink: Dover sole gets most of the accolades, but the Belgian variety from just across the English Channel in Ostend is easily its equal. It’s at its best when grilled simply with a little butter and garlic. Other notable seafoods are the eels in an herbed green sauce ( paling in ‘t groen ) and shrimp, which are still harvested in some North Sea villages by pulling purse seine nets through the surf by horseback.

The lordly mussel is worshiped here, just as it is throughout Belgium and the Netherlands, so scan menus for them and find out what all the hoopla is about.

Flanders cooking is a joyful mix of French and Dutch, with enough Belgian dishes tossed in to make menus interesting. Waterzooi, a rather watery chicken soup with vegetables, is one that has never really caught our fancy, but the seafood version looks and tastes a bit better.

Belgian beer is the beverage of choice here, and a bar or restaurant could have a listing of them as long as your arm, some brewed by Trappist monks and other religious orders. Rodenbach is probably Flanders’ most popular Pilsen, but keep an eye out for something called Mort Subite (Immediate Death), which we decided not to chance. Straffe Hendrik (Strong Henry) is a local brand not available outside Bruges. You can visit the Straffe Hendrik Brewery (Walplein 26) for a close-up look at how they’ve been making their suds since 1856. The old brewing cauldrons and other gear are very colorful, and the cafe makes a good lunch stop.

Dining well: La Civiere d’Or (Markt 33) has been sitting on the corner of Market Square for four decades and has counted us as occasional customers for about half that time. The Van Robay family has kept the interior very Flemish, with dark panels and an old tile fireplace. There is also an outside terrace on the square for summer dining.

Try the eels in green sauce for $11, lobster in a creamed sherry sauce at $13 or wild duck for two at $17. The steaks and chops are mostly in the $14 range, with some lobster and sole plates climbing to $20.

Malesherbes (Stoofstraat 3) is a small French bistro-delicatessen on an old fire lane running between ancient houses near town center. There are very few tables here, but the Parisian owner does great things with beef Bourguignon and Breton fish soup at $11, other French-menu dishes for the same price.

‘t Nieuw Walnutje (Walplein 4), a small brasserie on a charming little square, has more of a French-bistro flavor in its cozy ambience than Malesherbes, yet the food is more Flemish and the prices a bit lower. There’s a small terrace on the square where folks stop for a drink or snack. Expect to find cold herring fillets, omelets and croque monsieurs (grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) along with main dishes of mussels and entrecotes (rib steak) with a variety of sauces.

Going first-class: For the very best in Brugean atmosphere and modern comforts, book into De Orangerie, a patrician 16th-Century home built around a central garden and terrace filled with greenery. Everything possible has been done to preserve the original character of the home, with antiques throughout the public areas and 18 large bedrooms.

De Orangerie is right on Dyver Canal, with a terrace for breakfast overlooking the passing boats. It is Bruges’ most elegant and intimate hotel and, for our money, one of the very best we’ve ever seen in Belgium.

On your own: Everything in the town radiates--from Market Square and its magnificent Belfry of Bruges, a 13th-Century tower that rivals Seville’s Giralda, Venice’s campanile and Giotto’s masterpiece beside the Florence cathedral. From this point one is within five or 10 minutes’ walking time to most of Bruges’ sights.

Get an overview of Bruges and its charms by taking either a half-hour canal boat cruise ($3.75 per person, $1.75 for children) or a horse-drawn carriage ride for 35 minutes ($20 per carriage). There is also a 50-minute minibus tour departing hourly from Market Square ($8 per person, children $5), with comments in seven languages from your personal headphones.

Should you opt to do it leisurely on foot, leave the market for a one-block walk to the Burg, the town’s second major square and one that holds the Town Hall, a flamboyant 14th-Century Gothic structure that takes one’s breath away. Just when you’re getting it back, the hall’s fantastic Gothic Room grabs it again. The Burg has marvelous examples of 12th-through-17th-Century buildings ringing the square, and the colorful fish market--where Napoleon bought his shrimp--is nearby.

The medieval St. John’s Hospital served as an inn for travelers beginning in the 12th Century, but its rooms and wards have been given over to the Hans Memling Museum. Memling settled in Bruges in the mid-15th Century and left the city a formidable number of major works. Be sure to see his unforgettable triptych altarpiece, the “Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine,” and also the small but incomparable “Shrine of St. Ursula,” considered one of the seven marvels of Belgium.

The 15th Century saw the emergence of the Flemish “primitives,” and Bruges’ Groeninge Museum has a galaxy of them: Jan van Eyck, Rogier Van der Weyden, Memling, Hieronymous Bosch, Gerard David and others who account for some 30 masterworks in the Groeninge.

A step from the Memling Museum in the soaring Gothic Church of Our Lady, you’ll find Michelangelo’s exquisite “Mother and Child,” carved from white Carrara marble. It was purchased from the artist by a wealthy Flemish burgher and is the only statue of his to remain permanently outside Italy.

Less weighty activities for a Bruges visit can be a nighttime cruise along the floodlit canals of the town, or a four-mile cruise past windmills and glorious scenery to Damme, which served briefly as Bruges’ port when the Zwin silted. Alas, the same fate befell Damme.

GUIDEBOOK

Bruges

Getting there: Fly TWA, Pan Am or several foreign carriers to Brussels, then take a train on to Bruges. An advance-purchase, round-trip air ticket will cost from $1,032 to $1,101, the train about $9 each way.

A few fast facts: The Belgian franc recently sold for 36 to the dollar, about .028 each. Best time for a visit is between May and October. Winters are anything but charitable near the North Sea.

Where to stay: Hotel Bourgoensch Hof (Woolestraat 39, $52-$111 double B&B;); Ter Brughe (Oost Gistelhof 2, $82-$98 double B&B;); Oud Huis Amsterdam (Spiegelrei 3, $111-$140 B&B; double); De Orangerie (Kartuizerinnestraat 10, $130-$168 double B&B;).

For more information: Call the Belgian National Tourist Office at (212) 758-8130, or write (745 Fifth Ave., Suite 714, New York 10151) for a brochure on Bruges, another on “Belgium, the Key to Europe” and a map of the entire country.