Archief

As a follow-up to the previous photo, here is another Bruges classic. This water-drain can be seen right next to the small bridge.

In Bruges, even a water-drain can be embellished in a special manner. Standing on the small Blind Doneky Bridge, or on the Fish Market, you can see this one when you look towards the bottom of the building where several municipal services are to be found.

Almost everywhere in the inner city, there is, or there has been, a convent. Part of this wall of the Groeninge Museum, for instance, belonged to the Eeckhout Abbey. And the artifact hanging on this wall... might it have been a Holy-water basin?

A last look at the Minnewater Clinic in the Professor J. Sebrecht street, near the Minnewater and the station. This photo shows the high-relief white stone sculpture above the clinic's entrance. It represents Our Gracious Lady and child, surrounded by "the sick and the suffering", flanked to the right and the left by two angels. Under the two canopies there are, to the left, Saint-Joseph holding a lily, and to the right Saint-Donaas, patron of the Bruges bishopry. White St-Joire stone was used for the two statues (1m40 high). They are the work of Bruges sculptor P. de Wispelaere

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The magnificent façade and entrance to the huge building, known as the "Minnewater clinic".

Simply tho show how impressive this building really is : this photo was taken from the beguinage court, and as one can see, the beguinage houses, while not exactly being the smallest houses around, look minuscule against the background of this clinic behind them.
The Minnewater clinic, which now, besides living as well as care facilities, also houses the "Palliative Care" Service, was original in use by the Sisters of Love. On October 18, 1892, the Sisters officially opened the building as the Saint-Anthony Institution, for the care of needy women
Shortly before World War 2, the Sisters left the building and under the initiative of Professor-doctor J. Sebrechts (for whom the street is named), the nearby Saint-John's Hospital took it over, thus adding additional space for its medical science department. However, the completion of this project had to wait till 1947 because the German invader had in the meantime exercised its own options for the building. When, in 1977, the move of the Saint-John's Clinic to its then brand-new complex outside the city walls, another use for the now empty building had to be devised. And thus it is that, as already mentioned, it became a living and caregiving facilities, to which the Palliative Care Service was added somewhat later.

Let's look at the Minnewater Clinic some more, from the other side of the street. This impressive building was erected between 1884 and 1892. The architect was none other than Louis Delacencerie, the man who put a serious stamp on Bruges at the end of the 19th century : the neo-gothic style, inspired by the gothic style of Bruges. Typical of this gothic style are the red bricks, bays, pointed-arch windows, gabled façade, bowfriezes and high chimney funnels, all  elements combined here in a particular manner. 

O ja:  deze gevel, mocht u ooit de neiging voelen om het na te meten, is om en bij de 175 meter lang.
This building has the longest façade in Bruges. It takes up a complete side of the Professor Dr.J. Sebrecht street and the building is known as the Minnewater Clinic. The attic is where one finds the O.C.M.W. archives (Public Welfare Organizations) the very extensive and interesting archives of, for instance, the Welfare Bureau, the Magdalena Leprosy, the Beguinage, the Sint-Jans hospital, the godshouses, etc. As well as the many interesting documents (the oldest is dated 1185) one also finds here the OCMW art-collection. The archives are open upon request but those are few and far between for the simple reason that there is still no permanent personnel to make up a complete and detailed inventory for this very important archive. I know, it is a question of money. But, if it can be done for the Provincial and Town archives, why can it not be done here? And, oh yes, and should you want to measure the length of this façade, you will see that it comes to about 175 m.

".Zonnekloppers", roughly translated as "Sunclappers" is a typical Flemish expression to indicate people who love nothing better than lying in the sun. Where most people are dragging themselves along in the heat and are trying to find a cool spot and protection from this very warm weather, we also have a type of persons for whom it is never too warm. Those are the true, unadulterated Zonnekloppers.

... on the first floor of the Wollestreet number 9. You saw them once before, by day, here deze foto. Now you can see them at work late in the evening.