The Godshuizen - Bruges

The visitors who take the time to walk through the beautiful city of Bruges will notice after a while that a certain type of houses can be seen quite often in the city. Those houses are mostly late medieval-looking and bear a name and a year on the outside wall. These houses are called 'Godshuizen'. Literally translated this would mean 'Houses of God'. However, this translation could mislead one to believe that these houses were small churches, or places of worship. A better name would be 'Houses for the poor and the needy'. Indeed, as early as the 14th century rich families and rich corporations of Flemish cities built houses for poor and needy widows and widowers. Sometimes the houses were constructed by corporations or guilds, for their members who had lost their income or were unable to work because of illness, handicaps or other mishaps.
Most of the time these houses form a complex around an inner court where the people of the complex could get their water and grow vegetables in the little gardens. Most complexes also have a chapel where the inhabitants were supposed to pray for the souls of their benefactors. In most 'Godshuizen' the poor inhabitants also received food and basic care.

Bruges still has numerous examples of these houses. There are two area in the city where there is a high concentration of these 'Godshuizen': around the Zand square and around the Sint Kathelijnestraat (Saint Catherine street). Every group of houses (mostly between 4 or 24 houses) was meant for a specific group of the population: widows, widowers, older couples, etc.... Most 'Godshuizen' bear on the outside wall the name of the donator or rich family, together with the year of construction. One of the most beautiful and impressive complexes is the 'Godshuis De Meulenaere' in the 'Nieuwe Gentweg' street '(see picture on top of the page). There are houses in Bruges from different centuries. Most date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Most are still inhabited now, mostly by elderly people. They now belong to the OCMW of Bruges, the Department of Social Care.
 

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