Bruges is the smallest of Belgium’s best-known cities, with a population of about 115,000. It serves as the capital of the province of West Flanders. The old centre section of the city has well-preserved medieval buildings and canals that draw many tourists.

Burges was founded by one of the great early rulers of Flanders, Baldwin Iron-Arm. He resisted the power of the French and made himself the Count of Flanders. Baldwin kidnapped the French king’s daughter and made her his wife. He fortified the area near Bruges in the ninth century.

Centuries later, thanks to the cloth trade, Bruges became one of northern Europe’s wealthiest cities. Today, the city’s centre features the old Markt, or marketplace, and the oldest town hall in Belgium.