STRANGE BUT TRUE

One of the four remaining city gates of Bruges, Belgium, is the Blacksmith’s Gate, dating back to 1297. Above the arch is a bronzed skull — actually a replica of a real skull that once hung there. It belonged to a statesman who conspired to betray the city in 1691, but when his plot was uncovered, he was hanged and his head was dipped in bronze and placed there as a warning to others. The real skull is in the Archaeological Museum in Bruges.