Béguinage of Courtrai, Medieval religious complex in Kortrijk, Belgium
The béguinage of Kortrijk is a medieval residential complex featuring a church and whitewashed houses arranged around cobblestone lanes within protective walls. The entire site now includes a museum space and remains one of the few surviving examples of this type of community layout from the Middle Ages.
Founded in 1238, this community began as a residential space for single women devoted to religious life without formal monastic vows. The settlement adapted through centuries while maintaining its core purpose until the final resident departed in the early 2000s.
The name reflects a community of women who chose religious life without becoming nuns, a role specific to the Low Countries. Walking through the narrow lanes today reveals how these residents organized their daily lives around faith and shared work.
The outdoor grounds are freely accessible for self-guided walks through the streets and courtyards at your own pace. The museum section operates on scheduled hours, so planning ahead is important if you want to see the interior exhibitions and displays.
This site maintained continuous habitation by its residents for over 750 years, making it exceptionally rare among similar medieval communities. This remarkable continuity means the place remained actively lived-in throughout all those centuries before finally transitioning to museum status.
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