The Bruges hotel I am staying in is a relatively modern construction. Building work was much delayed by the discovery of the remains of an old church, St Donatus, where the foundations were to have been dug. The church was pulled down and the rubble auctioned off in the eighteenth century. Gradually, people forgot about the old church – until the modern building works got under way. The quite extensive ruins can now be visited in the basement of the hotel. They are accompanied by a small exhibition displaying pots, pans and other artefacts dicsovered during the archaeological excavations. It is not the first time I have stayed in this hotel and I like to get in a visit to the ruins. What I particularly like are the frescos rescued from the interior of three tombs (one is in my picture). They are simple affairs, but they are pretty and the colours are still vivid and they represent religious activities still visible today (in the case of this angel, swinging an incense burner).
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