Saint John's Hospital (Memling Museum)

Memling Museum - St. John's Hospital - Bruges - © Dennis Jarvis

While beer and chocolate are often on the top of travellers’ lists, one would be remiss to pass a visit to the unique Memling Museum. Housed in St John’s Hospital, a medieval hospital formerly run by nuns and monks, it has a fascinating display of somewhat gruesome surgical and medical instruments. Equally interesting are the works of art by Flemish artist Hans Memling including his renowned wooden Shrine of St. Ursula. German born, this ‘Flemish Primitive’ from the 1400’s was one of the city’s great painters and focused on portraits and religious works.