that Bruges which rose to such glory in the Middle Ages, and is
still, though fallen from its high estate, the picturesque capital
of West Flanders, whither artists flock to wander about amidst the
canals and bridges, the dismantled ramparts, the narrow streets
with their curious houses, and the old buildings which bear such
eloquent testimony to the ruin which long ago overtook what was
once an opulent and powerful city.

When the wrath of his father-in-law had been appeased, Baldwin, now
responsible for the defence of Flanders, came to Bruges with his
wife, and there established his Court. But the old burg, it seems,
was not thought capable of holding out against the Normans, who
could easily land on the banks of the Zwijn; and Baldwin, therefore,
set about building a new stronghold on the east side of the old
burg, and close to it. It was surrounded partly by the main stream
of the Roya, and partly by backwaters flowing from it. Here he
built a fortress for himself and his household, a church dedicated
to St. Donatian, a prison, and a 'ghiselhuis,' or house for the
safe keeping of hostages. The whole was enclosed by walls, built
close to the edge of the surrounding waters.

The Roya is now vaulted over where it ran along the west side of
Baldwin's stronghold, separating it from the original burg, and
the watercourses which defended it on the north and east are filled
up; but the stream on the south still remains in the shape of the
canal which skirts the Quai des Marbriers, from which a bridge
leads by a narrow lane, called the Rue de l'Âne Aveugle, under
an arch of gilded stonework, into the open space now known as the
Place du Bourg. Here we are at the very heart of Bruges, on the
ground where Baldwin's stronghold stood, with its four gates and