Kruisvest Windmills

Windmills have graced Bruges' ramparts since the construction of the outer city wall at the end of the 13th century, and at the peak of their usefulness there were dozens spinning along the elevated earthworks. By the 20th century, they had all but disappeared. Today, four specimens survive on the Kruisvest — the green, tree-lined embankment that traces the northeastern city wall — and together they form one of the most photogenic walks in a city that is already almost unfairly photogenic.

The star is the Sint-Janshuismolen, built in 1770 by a group of bakers who needed their own grain mill. It is the only one of the four windmills still standing on its original site, and more importantly, it is the only one where grain is still actually ground. In summer, you can climb inside and watch the mechanism work — the massive wooden gears, the grinding stones, the flour collecting below. It is a functioning piece of 18th-century engineering, maintained not as a museum exhibit but as a working mill.

The other three windmills were relocated to Kruisvest from elsewhere in Flanders during the 20th century to preserve the memory of the city's milling past. The Bonne Chiere Mill, the De Nieuwe Papegaai Mill, and the Koelewei Mill (dating from 1765) were all transplanted here to maintain the windmill-studded skyline that appears in old paintings and engravings of the city.

The walk along the Kruisvest from the windmills toward the Dampoort gate is one of Bruges' best-kept secrets. Away from the crowds of the Markt and the Burg, you are walking along the top of the old city wall, with views across the canal to the quiet suburbs on one side and the medieval rooftops on the other. Bring a picnic.