Here we are at the very heart of Bruges, on the
ground where Baldwin's stronghold stood, with its four gates and
drawbridges, and the high walls frowning above the homes of the
townsmen clustering round them. The aspect of the place is completely
changed since those early days. A grove of chestnut-trees covers
the site of the Church of St. Donatian; not a stone remains of
Bras-de-Fer's rude palace; and instead of the prison and the
hostage-house, there are the Hotel de Ville, now more than five
hundred years old, from whose windows the Counts of Flanders swore
obedience to the statutes and privileges of the town, the Palais
de Justice, and the dark crypt beneath the chapel which shelters
the mysterious Relic of the Holy Blood.
[Illustration: BRUGES. Rue de l'Ane Aveugle (showing end of Town
Hall and Bridge connecting it with Palais de Justice).]
In summer it is a warm, quiet, pleasant spot. Under the shade of
the trees, near the statue of Van Eyck, women selling flowers sit
beside rows of geraniums, roses, lilies, pansies, which give a
touch of bright colour to the scene. Artists from all parts of
Europe set up their easels and paint. Young girls are gravely busy
with their water-colours.
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