Access BrugesStepped gables, still water, and a belfry over all of it.
Flower boxes along the quay wall of the Rozenhoedkaai, gabled houses beyond
THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED CORNER

Rozenhoedkaai

The bend of quay where the canal turns under brick houses and the Belfry rises behind them, once the salt quay of Bruges and now the view that stands for the whole city.

Marc Ryckaert, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

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The bend of quay where the canal turns under brick houses and the Belfry rises behind them, once the salt quay of Bruges and now the view that stands for the whole city.

Along the quay

  1. 1
    HuidenvetterspleinA small square of guild-style houses, with a boat landing stage by the water
  2. 2
    The fish marketThe colonnaded market by Braambergstraat, where the fish trade moved from the Markt
  3. 3
    The quay wallFlower boxes on the stone parapet where everyone stops to lean and look
  4. 4
    The bend of the canalBrick fronts rising straight from the water, the Belfry above their roofs
  5. 5
    The boat stageOne of the five landing stages where canal boats take on passengers
  6. 6
    Towards the DijverThe quay continuing south along the canal towards the museums

Along the water, in the order you meet them.

The view everyone comes for

There is a moment, walking south from the Burg, when the street opens onto the water and the whole of Bruges seems arranged for a painting: a bend of dark canal, old brick houses standing straight up out of it, a willow, and above everything the tower of the Belfry. That is the Rozenhoedkaai. It is one of the most photographed places in the city, and it earns the attention.

The classic bend of the Rozenhoedkaai, a willow on the left and the Belfry above the roofs
The classic bend of the Rozenhoedkaai, a willow on the left and the Belfry above the roofsSally V, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The quay is short, and there is not much to do here except look. That is the point. It is the best place in Bruges to understand how closely the town and its canals are woven together, and to see why the city is so often compared with Venice.

Salt, rosaries and a novel

For centuries this was not a picturesque corner but a working wharf. The street was called the Zoutdijk, the salt dike, and a reference from 1390 suggests that ships delivering salt were unloaded here. Salt was one of the essential goods of medieval trade, and Bruges was built on trade.

A white building with a glassed terrace reflected in the canal
A white building with a glassed terrace reflected in the canalАндрей Романенко, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The present name appeared in the eighteenth century. Stalls selling rosaries, rozenhoeden in old Dutch, were set up along the quay, and the name stuck. A rosary quay suited a city whose churches and religious houses were everywhere.

The colonnades of the fish market around a stone obelisk pump
The colonnades of the fish market around a stone obelisk pumpMarc Ryckaert, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

In 1892 the Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach published Bruges-la-Morte, a novel about a widower wandering a silent, melancholy city, and he gave his main character a house on the Rozenhoedkaai. The book helped build the image of Bruges as a dreamlike place frozen in time, and that image still draws visitors to this quay.

What you actually see

Stand at the quay wall and look along the water. On the far side the houses rise sheer from the canal, their brick fronts and stepped gables reflected in it, and behind them the Belfry fills the sky. To your right the canal bends out of sight; to your left it runs on towards the Dijver and the museums. A large building with a terrace directly on the water is part of the view in almost every photograph taken from here.

A turreted house on the Huidenvettersplein rising straight from the canal
A turreted house on the Huidenvettersplein rising straight from the canalRicardalovesmonuments, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Close by is the Huidenvettersplein, a small square named after the tanners, with the tanners' old guild house on its corner and houses that face the canal behind. It holds one of the city's boat landing stages. A few steps further on is the fish market, the colonnaded market by Braambergstraat; the fish trade moved there, away from the Markt in 1745.

Along the quay itself the parapet is lined with flower boxes, and there is almost always a canal boat passing below, full of upturned faces. Look for the moment when a boat crosses the reflection of the Belfry; that is the photograph most people wait for.

Taking the photograph

The tanners' old guild house on the Huidenvettersplein, seen across the water
The tanners' old guild house on the Huidenvettersplein, seen across the waterLuna Moonshine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The light is best in the morning, when the sun falls on the houses across the water and the quay is still quiet. By late morning in the warmer months the parapet is crowded, and you may have to wait your turn at the best spot. Evening is also rewarding: the Belfry and the houses are lit, the boats have stopped, and the canal becomes very still.

You do not need to stand exactly where everyone else does. Walk a few meters along the quay in each direction and the angle on the tower and the bend changes. Crossing to the Huidenvettersplein gives a lower view with the houses closer, and the bridges further along the Dijver give yet another.

How to visit

A bare willow against the Belfry and brick roofs on a clear day
A bare willow against the Belfry and brick roofs on a clear dayFrDr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The quay is a public street, open at all hours and free. Ten minutes is enough to see it; longer if you want to photograph it well or simply sit and watch the boats. It is a natural stop between the Burg and the museums on the Dijver, and most walking routes through the center pass it.

Boats moored below the quay, the spire of Our Lady in the distance
Boats moored below the quay, the spire of Our Lady in the distanceCHRISVANSASSENBROECK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The boats that leave from here and from the Huidenvettersplein are the easiest way to see the canals from the water. A trip takes about half an hour, tickets are sold at the landing stages, and the boats have no roof, so umbrellas are handed out if it rains; the canal boats page explains how it works.

The steps down to the landing stages are steep and there is no lift, so the boats are not wheelchair accessible. The quay itself is level and easy to reach, and the view from the parapet costs nothing and needs no planning at all, which makes it one of the few famous sights in Bruges that is never sold out.

Where to go next

The Belfry rising above the canal-side houses of the Rozenhoedkaai
The Belfry rising above the canal-side houses of the RozenhoedkaaiFlorent Pecassou, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Follow the water south and the quay becomes the Dijver, with the Groeningemuseum and the tree-lined canal and, beyond it, the Gruuthuse and the Church of Our Lady. Walk back north through the fish market and the Blinde Ezelstraat arch to reach the Burg, or turn along the Groenerei for the quietest stretch of canal in the center.

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