Old St. John's Hospital

Old St. John's Hospital
St. John's Hospital in 1778
Geography
Coordinates	51.204°N 3.224°E / 51.204; 3.224
History
Opened	mid-12th century
Closed	1977

The Hospital of St. John (Oud Sint-Janshospitaal) was a medieval hospital in Bruges. It was founded in the mid-12th century.

Located next to the Church of Our Lady, the premises contain some of Europe's oldest surviving hospital buildings. The hospital grew during the Middle Ages and was a place where sick pilgrims and travellers were cared for. The site was later expanded with the building of a monastery and convent. In the 19th century, further construction led to a hospital with eight wards around a central building.

Not until 1977 did the building's function as a hospital stop, at which time it was moved to a newer modern hospital in Brugge Sint-Pieters. The city of Bruges took over the buildings. Today part of the hospital complex holds the popular Hans Memling museum, named for the German-born Early Netherlandish painter, where a number of works, such as triptychs are displayed, as well as hospital records, medical instruments and other works of art.

The hospital site is also used as a congress and exhibition centre, the site Oud Sint-Jan.

On 13 April 2020, the square in the hospital was named after Eleonora Verbeke, a nun at the hospital in the eighteenth century.

External links

• Media related to Sint-Janshospitaal (Bruges) at Wikimedia Commons
• Sint-Janshospitaal museum visitor information
• Site Oud Sint-Jan congress centre