Bruges Hotels Guide: Beguine Convent (Begijnhof)
Found by the Minnewater, the Beguine Convent, or Begijnhof, was founded in 1245 by Margaret of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders.
Beguines were lay nuns who led a semi monastic life but took no vows, did not renounce their property and could return to the world at any time. At the time of the Crusades, many women were widows or simply could not find a husband due to the number of men fighting in the Holy Land and so the Beguinages sprung up throughout the Low Countries
In the 1930's the begijnhof became a convent for Benedictine nuns and so it remains to this day. It is accessed by a bridge and gate house.
The Begijnhof is a row of pretty white houses set around a well kept lawn lawn shaded by tall trees. Most of the houses date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, one of which has been converted into a museum dedicated to the life of the Beguines.
