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From the late fifteenth century, town halls became symbols of civic prestige and prosperity. Towns needed a central space for their offices, judicial tribunals and meeting rooms. An attractive town hall became a requisite feature of most northern European towns. Public spaces, such as council chambers and a great hall, were often elaborately embellished with images promoting moral rectitude and proper behaviour.
Louis II, Count of Flanders, Nevers and Rethel from 1346, laid the foundation stone of the City Hall (Stadhuis) in 1376. The building was largely completed by 1387, and the interior vaulting was done in 1402. It is the earliest late-Gothic monumental-style municipal council building in Flanders or Brabant: its flamboyant opulence testifies to the city's economic and political power.
The City Hall is flanked by the Basilica of the Holy Blood, where Bruges's most famous religious relic was stored, to the east and the Greffe or office of the civil clerks (1534-37), to the west. The two-story façade is distinguished by its breadth, measuring 26,5 m, and ornamentation. The underlying symmetry of the façade, which is divided into two matching halves, is almost obscured by the profuse decoration.
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