Bruges
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Bruges. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city of Belgium, capital of West Flanders, at the junction of the canals from Ghent, Ostend, and L'Ecluse, 7 miles from the North Sea, and 60 miles N. W. of Brussels; lat. 51° 12′ 30″ N., long. 3° 13' 44" E. The city has a circumference of nearly 4½ miles, and is entered by six gates. Many large and noble ancient mansions and spacious public edifices present their pointed gables to the streets, and afford interesting specimens of the ornamental Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages. Among the most remarkable public edifices are the Cathedral of Notre Dame (Onser Vrouw), the old Gothic Hospital of St. John, and the elegant church of St. Saviour. In the great square is a lofty Gothic tower or belfry, the most beautiful in Europe, and its chimes are harmonious. In this tower there are 48 bells, some 600000 THE BELFRY OF BRUGES weighing six tons; they are played upon every quarter of an hour by means of an immense copper cylinder communicating with the clock, and weighing about nine tons. Its surface is pierced by 30,500 square holes, so that an infinite variety of airs may be set upon it, by merely shifting the iron pegs that lift the hammers. The Ostend canal presents an expanse of surface that resembles a stately river. There are many bridges across the numerous canals, by which the streets are intersected; hence, the Flemish name of the place-Brügge, that is, bridges; in French, Bruges. The chief manufactures before the World War were woolens, linens, cottons, lace, dye works, sugar refineries and ship building yards. The lace manufacture is the most important. From the 7th century Bruges was rapidly acquiring importance. During the government of the rich and powerful Counts of Flanders, who resided there from the 9th to the 15th centuries, its woolen manufactures grew and flourished to an amazing extent. Under the Austrian dynasty, at the close of the 15th century, the rebellious conduct of the inhabitants of Bruges called upon it such destructive vengeance that henceforth its greatness died away, its trade was transferred to Antwerp, and the religious persecution and ferocity of the Spanish ish under Philip II. and the Duke of Alva completed the process of its ruin. Early in 1904, a new canal was inaugurated, extending ex from Zeebrugge, a port on the North Sea, 14.29 miles N. of Ostend, to the city, a distance of 7.49 miles. Pop. about 54,000. In the World War (1914-1918) the Germans occupied Bruges in the fall of 1914 and held it to the close of the conflict. With Zeebrugge it became a submarine base for attacks on British channel shipping. In the bombardment of the city by the Germans in 1915 many famous buildings were damaged or destroyed. These included the Hôtel de Ville, Les Halles, with a famous belfry, and the ancient Hospital of St. John, erected in the 12th century.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
bru'jez, a city in the western extremity of Belgium, seven miles from the port of Ostend. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Bruges was the headquarters of the Hanseatic League, and was the busiest commercial city in the world. Its population was rated at 200,000. Its merchant princes vied with royalty. Twenty foreign ministers resided within its walls. The queen of Philip the Fair of France was received in such state that she declared, "There are a hundred here who have more the air of queens than myself." At the height of its prosperity it was the silk and wool and cloth market of the world. Over 50,000 weavers were employed. The Duke of Burgundy instituted the Order of the Golden Fleece in honor of the wool merchants. An unsuccessful insurrection against the Archduke Maximilian in 1488 resulted in harsh measures. Commerce was driven to the rival city of Antwerp; manufactures were driven to England, laying the foundation of the country's superiority in cloth and cutlery. Bruges still has manufactures of silk, linen, cotton, and woolen goods, lace, leather, soap, starch, beverages, bells, and pottery, but the population has fallen to about 50,000. To one who likes to ponder amid the associations of the past, Bruges is a more interesting city than Brussels. The finest chimes in Europe hang in the town belfry. In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown. Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town. The wood carvings of the court of justice and the town hall, darkened with age, are unsurpassed. Stained glass, paintings by the masters, towers, spires, and halls where fashion once held revel are on every side. Poets, historians, and thoughtful people find Bruges an interesting city. Longfellow climbed the belfry one morning ere the city was awake: I beheld the pageants splendid that adorned those days of old; Stately dames, like queens attended, knights who bore the Fleece of Gold. Lombard and Venetian merchants with deep-laden argosies; Ministers from twenty nations; more than royal pomp and ease. Wordsworth, too, walked about the old market, musing on the changes. In Bruges town is many a street Whence busy life hath fled, Where, without hurry, noiseless feet The grass-grown pavement tread. See Belgium ; Antwerp ; Ghent 2026 Editor's Note: Bruges was saved by its own decline: when the channel to the sea silted up, the great city stagnated and grew poor, and so nobody knocked its medieval streets down. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best-preserved old towns in Europe — so beloved by tourists that managing the crowds is a civic problem, and so picturesque it carried a film named simply for it. (Ed: BR 2026-06-21)