Times are bleak in Bruges in the early 17th century. The religious wars between the Catholics and the Protestants have hit Flanders hard. To make matters worse, the Zwin, which provides access to the sea, is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate. Bruges is no longer the bustling trade metropolis it once was.

Nevertheless, the inhabitants do not lose hope. A new link to the sea is under construction: a canal to Ostend. Bruges merchants trade with Asia and South America and introduce new, exotic products to the city: coffee, tea, tobacco, and porcelain.

Meanwhile, a reform movement has emerged in the Catholic world: the Counter-Reformation. Several monastic orders establish themselves in Bruges. They proclaim their faith with impressive buildings, which they fill with stunning works of art. The craftsmen's order books are full once more.

As we explained on the ground floor, Bruges enjoyed its heyday in the 15th century. But from around 1550, times become difficult. There are armed conflicts in the Low Countries; and Bruges loses the Zwin, its access to the sea. The city is no longer an international trading hub.

The residents of Bruges look for solutions. Literally, ways out. You can see one on this diptych painting: the ambitious Handelskom or Canal Basin, which is put into operation in 1665. It is a place with new infrastructure for ships: on the right, you can see quays and places for stacking goods, on the left the nearby shipyards... The Handelskom is the end point of a new connection to the international port of Ostend. This means sea-going vessels can reach Bruges again. Other new canals connect the city to Ghent, Nieuwpoort, and Dunkirk.

Thanks to this new infrastructure, and to the powerful Chamber of Commerce, Bruges is back in business, on a national scale. The city regains its position as a hub. International goods arrive in Bruges and are shipped inland. This creates new business in the city. A 1668 chronicler reports that a fleet of 118 large merchant ships sailed out of the Handelskom and returned later, richly laden. The city’s industry also revives! It is not as straightforward as it sounds, because there is fierce competition. We’ll tell you that story at the model ship.

This is a model of the Maagd van Gent (Virgin of Ghent). The model ship is displayed in a glass case. The model is over a metre high and 1.2 metres long. It is almost the same length as the span of your outstretched arms. The model is produced from dark wood. The ship has three masts. A flag flutters from each of the masts, as on the bowsprit and the stern. The Maagd van Gent is a vessel belonging to the Ghent skippers' guild. It’s a galleon, a very common type of ship in the 17th century. At that time, cities were often compared with virgins: cities want to be free and unoccupied. Hence the name of the ship.

But what does the Maagd van Gent have to do with our story about Bruges? Well, this ship shows that there is fierce competition between the skippers of Bruges, Ghent, and Ostend. They all want large sea-going vessels to be able to sail into their port unhindered, the so-called right of passage. But at the same time, they want it to be mandatory for these vessels to transfer their cargo to their own local, Bruges, Ghent or Ostend ships. In this way, local skippers can also benefit from sea trade. This competitiveness, particularly between Ghent and Bruges skippers, dates back to the Middle Ages.

Perhaps this model from 1674 once stood in a chapel of the Ghent skippers' guild? As a token of thanks for a blessing from a saint. Or simply to ask the saint for a blessing. It was an 'ex voto' for the saint, a kind of thank you.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Bruges sought new ways out to the sea. Discover in this stunning atlas how new canals connect the city to the sea and the hinterland.

This tactile element is different from the panels you have explored up to this point. The atlas consists of a number of soft pages fixed to five metal rings. The last page is an overview map, which you can touch. To switch between one map and the next, flip over the pages. The binding with the rings is found at the top of the maps. So, you don't read the pages like a book with upright binding. There are six pages in total, but only the last one is tactile.

The title of the last page is New waterways in and out of Bruges (1613 – 1641). If you stand directly in front of this map, you can feel a slightly raised circle in the corner at the bottom on the right. The circle represents the city of Ghent. A line stretches upwards from this city diagonally to the left. The line is not completely straight. If you follow this waterway you end up at another circle, which is actually an oval. This is the city of Bruges and is located more or less in the centre of the map. Three lines stretch out from Bruges, which also represent waterways: the canal to Ghent, which we just explored, the waterway to the Zwin in the north, and the canal to Plassendale to the west of the city.

From Plassendale, which is represented by a smaller circle to the left of Bruges, run two more waterways. The shorter of the two goes to Ostend, at the coast. This waterway is a line that runs diagonally upwards. The second line runs down, to Nieuwpoort, bottom left on the map.

The previous pages all show the course of one of the waterways.

The next element you can explore corresponds to number 26 in the audio guide and number 25 relates to the olfactory elements you can smell. But before that comes number 23, for which we will stay in this room a little while longer.

This large tapestry, measuring 1.2 by almost four metres depicts a port scene. A dark-skinned ruler negotiates with Europeans. On the ground at their feet lie gold ingots and a man has just put down a basket full of braided tobacco leaves. The tapestry symbolises trade with the New World.

From the 17th century, new, exotic products and fabrics appear on the tables of the Bruges elite: coffee, tea, tobacco and cocoa, porcelain, mother-of-pearl and exotic wood. In this room you also find a number of objects that are used for these new items, such as a coffee pot and a teapot, or tobacco boxes and pots. You will learn more about those in a moment, under number 25. Smoking and sniffing tobacco, a plant from the Americas, soon becomes a new habit in Europe. The exotic products quickly conquer the hearts and homes of the elite. Trade is now conducted on a global level.

From the 16th century, enterprising locals from Bruges also set off for the Spanish colonies in Central and South America. Several of them return after a time, rich and with a network of international trade contacts. They establish international trading firms in Bruges. They also trade with Northern Europe.

In the early 18th century, the Far East enters the scene. Adventurous Bruges entrepreneurs also see new possibilities there. For a while, Ostend becomes their homeport. One of these enterprising Bruges locals is Guillaume De Brouwer. He is depicted together with his family, in the painting corresponding to number 24.

In front of you hangs a painting measuring 130 by 170 cm. It was created between 1745 and 1755 using oil on canvas. On the right at the back we find the former Bruges Captain and entrepreneur Guillaume de Brouwer, in his office, along with his family. The letter on the table reveals that it's him. It says: ‘Mynheer De Brouwer Kapiteyn tot Brugge’ (‘Mister De Brouwer, Bruges Captain’). De Brouwer is standing behind the table writing, while a servant brings him a letter. The two young men are his sons and heirs. On the right, his wife is holding a box of weights, for checking the weight of gold coins. Next to her stands a housemaid, with the youngest son and daughter in front of their mother. The brown and white spotted family dog is also an essential part of the scene. The many documents and packages demonstrate how industrious Guillaume De Brouwer is.

In the 18th century, De Brouwer is building an international commercial empire. He is trading with the Far East, and even sails to China himself five times. The first time he does this with Ostend as his homeport, and with good contacts in Norway and Denmark. Porcelain, tea, spices, silk, but also Norwegian cod: everything arrives at Ostend. The goods are subsequently stored and auctioned in Bruges warehouses. Later, De Brouwer operates out of Bruges as a ship owner. In 1755, his two sons take over the business.

Let your sense of smell transport you to exotic places. Coffee, tea, chocolate and tobacco are new products for the people of Bruges and they require some new utensils.

You can enjoy the aromas by taking a seat on one of the stools and positioning yourself above the grids. By taking hold of one of the two protruding pins you can open or close the circular grids. Directly behind each grid is a rectangular glass case that contains one or more objects that have something to do with the aroma. We will discuss them from left to right.

1. Chocolate with a chocolate pot. The chocolate pot is a copper pot with three legs. The pot has a spout and a lid. A handle sticks straight out from the side, like the handle of a saucepan. The fact that the handle sticks out of the side and is not in line with the spout is characteristic of a chocolate pot.

2. Tea with a cup and teapot in Japanese style. The white, porcelain teapot has a round belly with ridges that are repeated in the lid. The pot is painted with blue and red flowers and butterflies, and finished with gold accents. This is characteristic of the Imari style. The same cobalt blue and iron red colour are repeated in the decorations on the cup. The cup doesn't have a handle and so is more of a bowl than an actual cup. Cups with handles only appeared later. Cups without handles are still used for drinking tea in Asia.

3. Coffee with a coffee pot. Just like the teapot, the coffee pot is made from porcelain and painted blue and red with gold accents. But the painting is completely different! The coffee pot is decorated with people. They have an Oriental appearance: some of them wear their dark hair in a thick bun on top of their head and they are all dressed in long, flowing robes.

4. Tobacco with a tobacco pot, shell and snuffbox. The tobacco pot is made from earthenware and shaped like a vase. The pot has a metal lid. The pot is decorated with a painting in blue with the text: Tabacq de St Domingue. Next to the tobacco pot is a shell and a snuffbox. The shell was used to store tobacco just like the snuffbox.

For number 26, the next tactile element, move to the table on your left.

A throne. Luxurious clothes embellished with lace and ermine. A diamond pectoral cross. And behind the curtain: a library. You are standing in front of a portrait of Henricus Josephus van Susteren, Bishop of Bruges in the first half of the 18th century. Born into a wealthy family, Van Susteren presents himself to us as an intellectual and a true Prince of the Church. In a moment you can explore his portrait through tactile elements, but first we provide a bit more background information about Van Susteren and the period in which he lived.

After the religious wars between the Catholics and the Protestants, the Catholic Church is rather combative. It proudly displays its faith, as the Bishop shows here. It does so with impressive buildings and jubilant Baroque art. And with stately portraits. But also by helping people in poverty, which is what Van Susteren does as well.

New art and architecture are needed. This is because at the end of the 16th century, vandals destroyed or stole many artworks and church treasures. The Calvinists expelled the clergy from their Bruges monasteries, and many of those monasteries were given a different function. These were troubled times for the Church.

In the late 16th century, priests and monks return to Bruges. They re-establish their monasteries and churches. In Baroque style. Everything is new: paintings, stained-glass windows, silver and gold work, furniture and woodcarvings…. Some beautiful examples are found in this room. Wealthy people, such as Van Susteren, act as sponsors and patrons. Craftsmen and artists from Bruges and elsewhere receive many commissions from the Church.

Monastic orders come from the countryside and settle inside the safe city walls. Churches and over thirty monasteries occupy almost a quarter of the surface area of Bruges’ city centre. The monks of the famous Ten Duinen Abbey in Koksijde move to Bruges as well. Their impressive Baroque abbey is built on Potterierei. Today, we know it as the Grootseminarie, a seminary for priest candidates.

The portrait of Bishop Van Susteren has been reproduced here as a tactile panel. The actual portrait is almost one and a half metres high and a metre wide, but the tactile panel contains a smaller version. To explore the rectangular tactile panel it is best to start on the left and work your way to the right. The tactile panel consists of four parts: the portrait itself and three elaborated details, which are the bishop’s blazon, his chain with the cross and a piece of fake ermine fur.

1. Let's start with the portrait, which is found on the far left of the tactile panel. Start at this point and you'll soon feel a frame that is slightly raised. The frame forms a portrait-oriented rectangle and follows the outer edge of the portrait of Bishop Henricus Josephus van Susteren.

If you work your way down from the top edge of the portrait, you will find the bishop’s blazon in the top-left corner. In a moment this detail is explored in an enlarged version. You might be able to feel that the background is slightly accentuated here, with oblique stripes. This is the curtain that hangs in front of the library, which we mentioned in the introduction to this tactile panel. If you follow the left edge of the portrait down from the blazon, you reach several books. A little lower and you feel the bishop's hand, which is holding a book. The cover of the book is accentuated with fine dots. But now we return to the Bishop, after all he is the main figure in the portrait!

From the top edge of the portrait you can feel the Bishop's head to the right of the centre. Note that he has curly hair. His grey curls almost reach his shoulders. On his face you can feel his eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and chin.

Van Susteren is sitting on a chair. Over his shoulders he wears a short cloak or mozzetta of ermine, white fur with black tail tips. Can you feel the elongated tips of the ermine tails scattered here and there on the cloak? The ermine crops up again in a moment as a separate detail. On the bishop’s chest rests a chain with a cross. We will also discuss this in a moment. The Bishop wears a long cloak too, finished with lace at the bottom. The folds in the robe can be easily distinguished on the tactile panel. One of his hands lies on the curved armrest of the chair. In his other he holds a book, as we already mentioned.

This concludes the portrait of the bishop. It's now time to explore the details!

2. If you move a little to the right of the portrait, at the top, you will feel the first detail, the blazon of Van Susteren, in the middle of the tactile panel. At the top of the blazon there is a flat hat. Two ropes or pieces of cord emerge from underneath the hat. The pieces of cord cross over each other and each follow their own path. This part of the blazon is symmetrical so you can feel one of the cords to get an idea of the complicated knot that follows. Below the knot is a tassel from which two pieces of cord emerge, both of which also end in a tassel. From these two tassels sprout more pieces of cord, which end up in three tassels and at the end, four tassels. On both sides of the hat we find ten tassels, a total of twenty. The number of tassels indicates the person's rank.

In between the tassels we find a coat of arms. The shield is divided into four sections: top right and bottom left contain a black, eight-spoke wheel on a white background. Top left and bottom right contain the top of a black triangle with a dot on a yellow background. On top of the triangle on the left are two dog's heads; there is just one in the bottom triangle. In the centre of the coat of arms is a small shield. On this tactile panel the blazon is reproduced in white, yellow and black but the actual shield also contains blue and red.


3. We find the next detail on the far right of the tactile panel, the chain with the cross. If you start in the corner at the top on the right you first feel two buttons or links. From there two thin lines run to the next, round button. Two slightly shorter lines start from there and end up at the cross that hangs from the chain. The cross is made from expertly cut diamonds surrounded by precious stones.

If you return to the portrait, you will feel that the pectoral cross is found precisely in the centre of the painting. It hangs, as its name suggests, across the bishop's chest. On the portrait you can also feel the lines and the links from the cross, leading upwards.

4. The final detail is the fake ermine fur. You will find this detail in the middle at the bottom of the tactile panel, right in between the cross that you just explored, and the portrait. Ermine is white fur with black tail tips. In the painting you could feel the elongated tips of the ermine tails spread here and there across the cloak. In this detail you can feel a piece of fake ermine fur on the right, which is also white with accents of black. There is also a tactile element of an ermine, the small animal from which the fur originates.

In the tactile element you can feel the contours of an ermine. The small animal is looking to the left. He has fairly short legs and an elongated body with a thin tail. You can feel the tail on the right. Ermines are still found in Belgium and the Netherlands. They are small animals from the weasel family, measuring 16 to 31 centimetres in length. In the summer their fur is dark brown and they have a white belly. In the winter they turn completely white. Only the tip of the tail is black. In the past, the winter fur of the ermine was commonly used to make cloaks, in which the black tail tips stood out.

This concludes the portrait of Bishop Van Susteren.

The next element you can explore corresponds to number 30 in the audio guide. Before that is number 27. For both numbers turn left behind you into the following room. Please take care, there are two steps leading down. The tactile element is located on the left in the corner.