Chapter 36
Venice-of-the-North’s Ups and Downs: A Brief
History of the Port City of Bruges, Belgium
Roger H. Charlier and Constance C. Charlier
Abstract Venice Italy is famed for its rich history built on trade and centuries of
accumulated wealth. But when a major storm in 1134 opened an inlet in the North
Sea coast, near what is today Bruges Belgium, it created natural access to a new
port. The “waterway” brought such an economic bloom to the Flandrian city that it
became known as the Venice-of-the-North eventually competing, and perhaps
surpassing, its namesake as the richest city in Europe. What Mother Nature giveth,
she can take away, and indeed shifting sands, silting, combined with ships’ larger
sizes, wars and political conflicts brought Bruges to ruin. From enjoying centuries
as one of the largest and wealthiest harbor cities in the Western world, it became an
impoverished settlement, until it rose from its ashes through the construction of a
strategically connected manmade port, away from the inlet. The new port fell
victim to World Wars I and II, but is now a ranking and continuously expanding
North Sea harbor. The paper traces the vicissitudes of Bruges.
36.1 What’s in a Name?
Since the advent of advertising and the financial gains produced through tourism,
many tourist offices and cities have tried to bank on the drawing power of the name
“Venice”. The nickname “Venice-of-the-North” has been claimed many times over
and expanded to “Venice-of-the fill in the blank” (Fig. 36.1) (Wade 2009). It has
been used as shorthand to describe cities built on waterways, with canal systems,
many bridges and active ports. In Europe, Amsterdam (Fig. 36.2) and Stockholm
(Fig. 36.3) are among those who like to be called Venice-of-the-North because they
R.H. Charlier (*)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), 2 Avenue du Congo [box 23],
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
e-mail: roger.charlier@vub.ac.be
C.C. Charlier
University of Arizona (retired), Axelrod and Associates Consultants, 352 Oliver Road,
Santa Barbara, CA 93109, USA
e-mail: conniecharlier@yahoo.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_36
599
Venice-of-the-North’s Ups and Downs: A Brief
History of the Port City of Bruges, Belgium
Roger H. Charlier and Constance C. Charlier
Abstract Venice Italy is famed for its rich history built on trade and centuries of
accumulated wealth. But when a major storm in 1134 opened an inlet in the North
Sea coast, near what is today Bruges Belgium, it created natural access to a new
port. The “waterway” brought such an economic bloom to the Flandrian city that it
became known as the Venice-of-the-North eventually competing, and perhaps
surpassing, its namesake as the richest city in Europe. What Mother Nature giveth,
she can take away, and indeed shifting sands, silting, combined with ships’ larger
sizes, wars and political conflicts brought Bruges to ruin. From enjoying centuries
as one of the largest and wealthiest harbor cities in the Western world, it became an
impoverished settlement, until it rose from its ashes through the construction of a
strategically connected manmade port, away from the inlet. The new port fell
victim to World Wars I and II, but is now a ranking and continuously expanding
North Sea harbor. The paper traces the vicissitudes of Bruges.
36.1 What’s in a Name?
Since the advent of advertising and the financial gains produced through tourism,
many tourist offices and cities have tried to bank on the drawing power of the name
“Venice”. The nickname “Venice-of-the-North” has been claimed many times over
and expanded to “Venice-of-the fill in the blank” (Fig. 36.1) (Wade 2009). It has
been used as shorthand to describe cities built on waterways, with canal systems,
many bridges and active ports. In Europe, Amsterdam (Fig. 36.2) and Stockholm
(Fig. 36.3) are among those who like to be called Venice-of-the-North because they
R.H. Charlier (*)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University of Brussels), 2 Avenue du Congo [box 23],
B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
e-mail: roger.charlier@vub.ac.be
C.C. Charlier
University of Arizona (retired), Axelrod and Associates Consultants, 352 Oliver Road,
Santa Barbara, CA 93109, USA
e-mail: conniecharlier@yahoo.com
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_36
599