Visiting Sacred Books – English Convent in Bruges

English canonesses, who originally founded the Convent of Saint Monica in Leuven in 1609, relocated to Bruges in 1629. They settled in a former hospice called Nazareth, which had previously served pilgrims, to escape anti-Catholic persecution in England.

Following their arrival in Bruges, the prioress initiated the construction of a permanent convent complex surrounding the original Nazareth hospice house starting in 1647.

The chapel serving the English Convent was formally consecrated in 1650, shortly after the commencement of the broader convent building project.

A new single-nave church featuring a distinctive dome was constructed between 1736 and 1739 to replace the original chapel. The structure, designed in the late Baroque or early Neoclassical style, features a dome supported by Corinthian columns.

During the French Revolution, the sisters were forced to flee to England in 1794. Led by Prioress Mother Mary Augustina More, a descendant of Thomas More, the community sought refuge at Hengrave Hall in Suffolk.

Following the Peace of Amiens, the community returned to Bruges in 1802. It was at this time that the local population began referring to the institution as the 'English Convent' (Couvent anglais), a name that has persisted to the present day.

The convent's long-standing girls' school, which had become a prominent 'finishing school' for the European elite by the 20th century, was forced to close in 1973 as it could no longer issue legal diplomas. The site was subsequently converted into a guesthouse named Nazareth.

The section of the property previously operating as a guesthouse was purchased in 2008 by the Sint-Leocollege, which utilized the space as an boarding school facility until 2017.