Mr Monkey left the Burg and scampered along to the Markt, the main square of Bruges. He found that the square was dominated by the Belfort-hallen. The Belfort is a 83 metre high tower which leans a metre to one side and houses a treasury, a clock, and a 47 bell carillion weighing 27 tons. The Hallen is the non-towering building at the base of the Belfort, which used to be the main market of Bruges, until they noticed it was too small. The Belfort was originally built of wood in the 13th century, only it's burned down three times since. Henry Wadworth Longfellow liked it so much he wrote a poem about it. Mr Monkey had arrived too late to go inside the Belfort-hallen, so he just admired it from outside without writing any poetry.
You can read about the Belfort at the Brugge World Heritage City website and read Longfellow's poem at the Literature Network website.
Copyright Rik Shepherd and Mr Monkey. This page last modified 6 November 2007