3 december 2016

The swans of Bruges

Swans in the canal near the beguinage in Bruges.

There is a story about the swans in Bruges, dating from the time of Maximilan (1832-1867). This man, who married princes Charlotte of Belgium in 1857, had a confident named ´Longneck´. When Longneck was sentenced to death, Maximilian put a curse on the city for killing the man who meant a lot to him. He compelled the people of Bruges to keep swans (or 'longnecks') in the canals forever and ever.
There are about 50 swans in the city, and whenever one of them dies, a new swan is bought..

I'm linking to Saturday's Critters.

16 opmerkingen:

  1. From what I am seeing here it has turned out to be a very pleasant curse.

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  2. Hello, interesting story. I hope the swans live on forever. They are beautiful. Great photo. Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  3. Dat is een interessante geschiedenis, mooie foto met dat pootje op zijn rug.

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  4. That is a most interesting story Marleen. I'm so pleased the people of Bruges value their beautiful swans.

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  5. They look so lovely grouped like this Marleen.. I'm so used to seeing our black swans it seems strange to see these white beauties ☺

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  6. Doet me denken aan de Thames, daar schijnen alle zwanen koninklijk bezit te zijn.

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  7. That is a very pleasant scene with those swans. Interesting story about the curse.

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  8. A fascinating story and that first photo is magnificent! They are gorgeous birds!

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  9. Dat vind ik echt gaaf om te weten! Zit een heel verhaal aan vast dus.

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  10. Looks wonderful, the swans are lovely.

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  11. They are gorgeous! I could watch them all day.

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Don't be shy and leave a comment. I'd love to read what you think!