The Hospital of St. John (''Oud Sint-Janshospitaal'') was a medieval hospital in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

. 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 Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. He ...

museum, named for the German-born

Early Netherlandish Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. It flourished especiall ...

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''.

References

External links

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Sint-Janshospitaal museum visitor information

Site Oud Sint-Jan
congress centre Hospitals in Belgium Museums in Bruges Hospital buildings completed in the 11th century Brick Gothic Gothic architecture in Belgium Hospitals established in the 12th century {{Europe-hospital-stub