Bruges - Jan van Eyckplein

Across the Academiestraat stands the Oud Tolhuis (customs house; 1477) where merchandise was inspected. It now houses the city's library of 100,000 volumes and 600 manuscripts, the latter including 13th and 14th C. missals.

Dominating Jan van Eyckplein is the Poorters Loge, a striking 14th C. building with a slender tower. Once a sort of club for the merchant burghers of Bruges it now houses the city archives.

Several figures decorate the facade, most notably that of the bear, "Beertje van de Logie", which dates from 1417. (A bear also appears on Bruges's coat of arms.)