BEGIJNHOF (BEGUINAGE)

Take the time to stroll the aisles and enjoy the moment. It's magical! The princely Ten Wijngaarde beguinage, which means "of the vine", is a haven of peace and tenderness. A typically Flemish feature. It was founded by Margaret of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders, who had the village of Ostend raised to the rank of town in 1245. Beguinages, mainly located in Northern Europe, are defined as authentic villages in medieval towns. The term "beguinage" is sometimes used to describe an autonomous community of pious women, and sometimes to describe a group of intact buildings, generally built around a tree-lined courtyard, housing a community and including not only domestic and monastic facilities, but also workshops used by the community and an infirmary. Beguines, widows or single women, lived a monastic life, but without taking vows, so they could leave the community if they wished. They lived by begging and handicrafts, making pottery and copying books. These communities of women were sometimes powerful enough to influence the economic life of a city.

History. In the early days of the Bruges beguinage, the beguines did not live in individual maisonnettes, but in collective houses; this gradually changed, with a social divide between wealthy and deprived beguines gradually establishing itself in the ^15th century. Although the beguinage was little affected by iconoclasts, it was evacuated in 1582 by the Calvinist authorities. The church, then used as a warehouse, saw its roof destroyed by fire. After the Catholic restoration came a period of blossoming in the ^17th century: renovation of the buildings, embellishment of the repaired church, but also a change in the statutes, reserving residence in the beguinage to ladies of high society. Of the 150 beguines in the ^15th century, only twenty or so remained at the beginning of the ^19th century. To remedy the decline in numbers, and to counter the dilapidation of the buildings, in 1927 the beguinage's parish priest had the idea of attracting French Benedictine nuns, and it's still Benedictine nuns who live in several of the cottages today. The Bruges beguinage, considered to be the most beautiful in Flanders, features a neo-classical entrance gate dating from 1776, at the end of a bridge from the same period; a poplar garden, lined with beguine houses almost all in the same traditional style, most dating from the ^17th century, others from later centuries. There are also a handful of ^16th-century cottages. St. Elisabeth's church dates back to the ^mid-13th century, but was remodeled in the ^18th century. Still occupied by Benedictine nuns still wearing their ^15th-century habit, but also by lonely old ladies, the beguinage has many attractions.

Today's view. One of the houses, converted into an old-fashioned beguine's house, is unfortunately closed for an indefinite period. Only the small garden is accessible. This house is located between the entrance gate and the church. The best time to visit the Beguinage? In spring, when the inner garden is covered in blooming daffodils.