_Keep along the street in front of the square, going away from the sea; about 100 yards beyond the tram-lines, turn left towards =Knocke= (2½ kms.)_ _Turn left, before reaching the church, to the mill, near which is_ the entrance to the ="Kaiser Wilhelm II" Battery=. The latter is armed with four 12in. long range guns, mounted on bridges, and pivoting round circular tracks in concrete pits, by means of electric motors _(Photos, p. 84)_. _If it is desired to go as far as =Knocke-sur-Mer= (1 km.), turn left, beyond the church, along Boulevard de Lippens._ This is the most northern seaside place on the Belgian coast. Its church (St. Margaret's) possesses a 15th century tower. During the war, the Germans transformed several houses on the dike into concrete shelters. _Return to Knocke, proceeding thence to =Heyst= along the road previously taken. Enter +Heyst+ (3 kms.) by the Chaussée de Knocke; take Rue du Kursaal, on the left, then the Ramscappelle Road, on the right, bearing left again 400 yards further on. 2½ kms. beyond =Ramscappelle-lez-Bruges= take the road on the right and cross the Leopold Canal._ _Go through =Dudzeele= village, to the right of which are_ the remains of a battery position, _and further along the road,_ several concrete shelters. _=Bruges= (18 kms.) is entered by the Chaussée de Dudzeele. Take the =Fort Lapin=, on the left, then cross the bridges, on the right, to the =Plaine des Ecluses=._ _Beyond the latter, follow Rempart des Bassins, then, on the left, Rue du Calvaire, prolonged by Rue St. Claire, Rue St. Georges and Rue Flamande, coming out at the =Grand'Place= (See plan between pp. 88 and 89.)_ [Illustration: _+Bruges+, seen from Quai du Rosaire. In the background:_ +The Belfry+. _(See p. 97.)_] [Illustration: +Bruges. Triumphal Entry of the Belgian Army, with King Albert and Queen Elizabeth at their head, on October 25, 1918.+] BRUGES. Origin and Chief Historical Events. A burgh and a fortified bridge (whence the name of "Bruges" ("Brugge")) on the Reye, a brook since absorbed by the canals,--such was the origin of the town. In the 9th century Baudouin-Bras-de-fer, first count of Flanders and vassal of the French King replaced the original establishment with a fortified castle, around which, in spite of civil discords, quarrels between the rulers and their turbulent subjects, dissensions between the vassal and his suzerain, and rebellions by those two powerful Flemish _communes_--Ghent and Bruges--the town grew and prospered. These troubles were marked by sanguinary episodes, chief among which were the "Bruges Matins" (1302) in which thousands of the "Gens du Lys" _(Leliaerts)_ partisans of France, lost their lives, and shortly afterwards the famous "Battle of the Golden Spurs", in which the flower of France's chivalry, lured into the Groeninghe Marshes, was annihilated by the Flemish pikemen _(clauwaerts)_ led by Breydel the butcher, and Coninck the draper.