Antique & Vintage Postcards

The Porte d'Ostende — the Ostend Gate, also known as the Ezelpoort — photographed from across the moat canal in a crisp real-photo-style view: the medieval round stone gatehouse with its steep Flemish roof, a stone bridge, and behind it the stepped-gable facade of a substantial bourgeois townhouse. Bruges's medieval ring of city gates was built in the 14th century as the city grew into one of Europe's great trading centers; the Porte d'Ostende, facing west toward the coast, controlled the road to Ostend and the sea. By the early 20th century Bruges had reinvented itself as a destination for artists and tourists drawn to its preserved medieval streetscape, earning it a romantic reputation as "the Venice of the North." This card was never mailed.