Almshouses the Pelican - Bruges

Frans Van Beversluys (†Brugge, 9 June 1717) was the founder of the De Pelikaan almshouse, a son of notary Pieter van Beversluys. He was married to Maria-Magdalena van Westvelt. The couple lived in the early Baroque 'city palace', built by them in 1691, called 'De Gouden Pelikaan' in Predikherenstraat (number 25).

As a rich but childless couple, they turned out to be considerable benefactors , in the first place of the Church of Our Lady and of the poor table of this church. The garden of the Golden Pelican extended as far as the Groenerei, after the couple bought the house 'Het Seelken' in 1707. There it decided the following year to establish a house of worship there, intended for seven poor Bruges widows over fifty years of age . The Pelikaan consisted of two parts: a three-storey house, the former 'Seelken', and a newly built single-storey house. In addition to the rooms furnished for habitation, there was also a chapel . The founders, who had demonstrated their architectural taste in the construction of the 'Golden Pelican', did not content themselves with simple houses in the vein of most almshouses, but provided something with style and allure .

The incorporated 'Seelken' (from 1634) was in Gothic style , the new building was Baroque and was decorated with a large gable stone, depicting a pelican feeding its young. In 1767, part of the garden belonging to the house of God was sold to the owner of the 'Golden Pelican', Frans Cortals. He undertook to build a partition wall. In addition, every year on the Innocent Children 's Day, he also had to offer the residents a dish of rice porridge and a white bread .

Willem Vandenameele