Entrance to the Gruuthusemuseum
Entrance to the Gruuthusemuseum (Gruuthuse Mansion, ca. 1420) and tower of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) behind.
"The oldest wing of the Gruuthuuse Mansion, next the Reie , was built about 1420 or a little later. The N. façade, with the pretty tower and its loggia, was erected in 1465-70 by Lodewyk van der Gruuthuuse, who here gave shelter in 1471 to the exiled Edward IV of England and founded the famous library (now in Paris)."--Baedeker 1910.
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Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830 and was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. It has prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions bet... ... read more 
