Church in the Beguinage in Bruges

A Beguinage is a housing complex where lay religious women have come to live together without withdrawing from the world. It is meant to be a self contained community with houses, green spaces and churches. This phenomenon seems to be unique here that the beguinages in Belgium have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. I personally fail to appreciate the importance of this place since it just looks like a simple housing estate. The only difference here is that they people who lived here were beguines or lay religious women. Perhaps exploring this area more might give me a better appreciation of the significance of this place.

Inside the Church in the Beguinage in Bruges

The Beguinage is meant to be a place where lay religious women come to live together. It is thus not surprising that there is a church here. The church here is not that big. As for the design, considering how old it is, I was surprised to see it not have a gothic design. The church is almost hidden by the trees in the housing complex. One can access it by a pleasant walk through the beguinage. The church itself seems to be well maintained the brickwork is still intact. It isn’t really meant to be a big church but it is suprising to see the layout of the church mimicking what I usually see in cathedrals. In particular, is the choir here which practically takes up half the church. There are only handful of rows of pews here. Considering how big the beguinage, I wonder if there is enough space to accommodate all of the people who live here.

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