ANCIENT RUINS

Old Roman Ruins

            After a late breakfast on our last day in Bruges, Belgium we headed out into the cold, windy, overcast day.

            Our first stop was less than a block away at the Crown Hotel. Located on the corner of the Burg, we’d heard there were visible ancient ruins in the hotel. We entered the lobby like we knew what we were doing and headed directly to a glassed wall pretty much opposite the entrance to see what might be behind. We glimpsed a couple of old stone pillars and then I suddenly heard English being spoken.

            With a quick check around the lobby we realized there was an English tour about ready to start. Quietly I said, “Let’s fall in behind those people and listen to what the fellow says and see what we can learn.”

            “It looks like an organized group.”

            “Just be quiet and see what happens. The worse they can do is ask us to leave.”

            We did, and were we lucky! Instead of just standing before the glass wall, the docent took the group down the stairs and after turning on some lights actually took us into the crypt and a large underground room of the old church of St. Donatius. The old foundation was beautifully built and pretty much complete.  The ruins were large and hidden switches bathed the area in light. It looked like meetings actually continue to take place in the basement of the hotel.

            Just before starting up the stairs we turned to the lady bringing up the rear, who at one time had looked at us suspiciously,  and thanked her for allowing us to tag along.

            From the Burg we ventured off with map in hand on a rather long walk to find the

Kempinski Hotel. For some reason this seemed a bit hidden and it took a bit of endurance to find it. We probably unknowingly took a circuitous route.

            Philip the Good built the initial estate in 1429 to celebrate his marriage to Isabelle of Portugal in 1430. Three days after the wedding celebrations Duke Philip founded the Prinsenhof in honor of his wife and to reward his loyal knights.

            When finished the estate was seven times its present size containing several buildings. The hotel now is owned by the Kempinski hotel chain that in 2003 restored this hotel to its previous splendor. The hotel is divided into two sections, the historic castle and the new part.  

            When I had seen the hotel in some travel literature I thought it would be fun to stay here, but it was no way as centrally located as our hotel, which was truly lovely. However, my curiosity had been satisfied and it was fun to speculate on centuries long gone!