Bruges is the largest city in Flanders, a historic region in Belgium. Its name originates from the old-Dutch word meaning “bridge” and refers to a characteristic feature of the city’s landscape with a large number of canals, the banks of which are spanned by numerous bridges. Due to that fact Bruges is often referred to as the “Venice of the North”. Numerous canals and medieval gothic architecture of the city centre create a unique atmosphere of an inland port. The old Bruges tenement houses were not only used as the residential buildings but also as warehouses. They were built over canals, thanks to which it was possible to unload goods from a ship directly to a warehouse. In 2000 the Bruges old town was listed as the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
