Belgium’s Beguinages: Tranquil oases in a world of noise and distraction

A visitor sits among the daffodils in the courtyard of the Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde of Bruges, Belgium, Tuesday March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) 2026-04-19T05:07:12Z Bruges, Belgium (AP) — The clatter of suitcases rolling over cobblestones, motorboats chugging along a canal and visitors chattering in a smattering of languages provide a soundtrack to Bruges that makes it clear you are in one of Belgium’s most touristic cities. And yet, about two dozen women residents and visitors have found a hidden sanctuary from its bustle in a spot over a small bridge and under an ornate arch with an engraved Latin phrase “sauvegarde,” or “safe place” in English. Nestled in a sea of yellow daffodils lies an oasis of calm and tranquility founded in 1245: the Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaerde of Bruges. For 22 years, Trees Dewever has called this beguinage her home. She said it provides “an overwhelming feeling of calm and I think we need that in this world.” Her neighbor, 23-year beguinage resident Jo Verplaetsen, said the spirit of the medieval shelter is today soothing and social. “Each day you are thankful to be here,” she said. A refuge for women from medieval to modern woes However serene now, the beguinages emerged after the 12th century as an antidote to devastation. Conflicts in the Middle Ages ravaged the male population, creating a glut of widows and single women who needed some kind of stability. They often chose the looser rules of the beguinages instead of stricter convents, said Michel Vanholder, a volunteer at the Grand Beguinage Church of Mechelen. “They didn’t want to go become nuns but nevertheless they wanted to live together without men because there were not enough men to marry,” he said. Women who joined were called beguines, and while forbidden to marry while residing in the beguinages, they were allowed free egress, could own their own property and did not take religious vows of celibacy and poverty like nuns in adjacent convents. (