Sint-Janshospitaal (Saint John's Hospital)

Sint-Janshospitaal (Saint John's Hospital) is one of the oldest surviving hospital buildings in Europe. The hospital cared for pilgrims, travellers, and the sick for more than 800 years. The old infirmary cared for patients from the 12th century to the middle of the 19th century when the hospital moved to a nearby red brick building, where patients were treated until 1978.

Visitors may tour the chapel and the medieval wards where monks and nuns performed their charitable work, and explore the hospital’s impressive collection of artwork, vintage medical instruments, and archives. Also worth a visit are the pharmacy and its herb garden, the Diksmuide attic, the old dormitory, and the custodian’s room. Sint­Janshospitaal owns six works by the artist Hans Memling (one of the most important Flemish Primitive painters, who lived and worked in Bruges in the 15th century), as well as many religious sculptures and paintings that depict what life in the hospital was like throughout the centuries. The museum, which is now located in the old infirmary, teaches the curious visitor more about hospital life in the past and how the wards would have looked then.