Paris1972-Versailles2003

In our trips to Brussels, we discovered many things, many are very popular, after all a popular tourist destination. The City is unique, with its architecture and history, and I like it. I have mentioned it in  my many previous blog posts on Brussels , and again found me some pictures not in my blog that should be, Therefore, here is my take again on the Cathedral Saint Michael and Saint Gudule of Brussels, part I !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

I am lucky to have family right by the border Belgium/France and had used them as a base to go into Brussels and Belgium and its wonderful cities many times.

The western façade is typically Gothic-style brabant by its highly flamboyant décor. But it is also inspired by the typology of French Cathedrals, with its two towers and three portals surmounted by their gable. However, unlike the French facades it has no rosette, the latter being replaced by a large Brabant canopy. The two towers whose tops are laid out on terraces the facade is on three levels. The lower level is that of the portals and their gable. The two side portals are located at the base of the towers. The middle level is that of the large canopy, characteristic of the style ogival Brabant, flanked by two tall bays, narrow and slender each located in the axis of one of the towers. Finally at the top of the façade the third level presents a huge triangular pinion  perched above a gallery lace with fine balusters, and topped by several flamboyant pinnacles, one of which, at the top of the pinion, is particularly impressive and reaches more than 55 meters in height. On either side of this pinion, stand the third and penultimate floors of the two towers, with two very slender bays with giblets.

The Cathedral Saint Michael and Saint Gudule has 114 meters long with the towers at 64 meters ,inside the width is 54 meters and the ceiling is at 25 meters. The Cathedral has beautiful stained glass windows, notably from the 16C, 17C and 19C. The interior in the nave with eight barlongues or rectangular spans, the elevation is three levels: large arcades communicating with the two collateral, triforium and high windows ; the ones on the right represent Thaddeus, Matthew, Philip, Thomas, James the Mayor and Paul.  Sixteen small lateral Chapels (eight in the north and eight in the south) open on the aisles. Each is equipped with a large, flamboyant bay with 19C stained-glass windows.  The nave features a 17C baroque pulpit carved in 1699. The base represents Adam and Eve driven from the Garden of Eden after plucking the forbidden fruit. In the summit, the Virgin and the Child piercing the serpent symbolize the redemption.

The  Choir of the Cathedral also has three rectangular bays and a five-pans apse. Its elevation in three levels; large arcades communicating with the ambulatory, triforium and high windows. It is surrounded by a large ambulatory which opens the large hexagonal baroque chapel of the Madeleine is today called Chapelle Maes. Built in the 17C, it is baroque-style and hexagonal in shape. It is lodged between the abutments of the two posterior buttresses of the bedside. It is surmounted by a small dome, which itself is crowned with a lace-up lantern. The Chapel is endowed with berries including the 19C stained glass.

The Chapels houses the treasure of the Cathedral and contains some superb works of religious art, including a cross-reliquary with Anglo-Saxon inscription dating from around the year 1000, the Cross of Brussels , a Virgin and the Child, as well as the canvas of  The Legend of Saint Gudule.The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament ,flamboyant Gothic style built in the 16C, and Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Deliverance made it so much wider than the nave and even the transept, although the latter was  done at the end of the 14C, by the addition of a narthex at the end of the south brace. Like the latter, it constitutes a small Church in the Cathedral, located to the right (south) of the ambulatory with which it communicates by four large arcades. Built at the request of the Infante of Spain Isabel (daughter of king Felipe  II of Spain) that had married Archduke Albert of Habsburg, it was completed in 1649.

The organ was built in 2000 by organ factor Gerhard Grenzing.

The cathedral offers, in the basement, an archaeological site created by the placement, in 1991, above the vestiges of the ancient collegiate Church, a slab which, while supporting the paving of the choir, cleans an underground space which had already been spared by the Construction of the 13C Gothic building. At the time, it was a matter of safeguarding access to the Romanesque crypt to allow for the perpetuation of the use of burial sites, which continued until the end of the 19C. Two staircases give access to this site, which allows to observe it through thick transparent glasses arranged above the excavations.

A bit of history I like tell us that the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudule (used to be collegiate Church of St Michael) is the cocathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels located in  Brussels. It is dedicated to St. Michael and St. Gudule. Lambert II, Count of Leuven, and his wife Oda de Verdun, founded in 1047 a chapter of 12 canons in the Church of St. Michael (hence the name of “collegiate”) and transported the relics of Saint Gudule until then preserved in the Church of Saint-Géry which occupied, until the French revolution, the current location of the Halles Saint-Géry (market).  In 1200, under the impetus of Henri I of Brabant, the church was restored and enlarged by the construction of a Western facade , accompanied by two round towers. In 1226, the Duke of Brabant Henri II decided to build a Gothic collegiate Church which was not completed until the beginning of the 16C, shortly after the birth of  king Charles V. Some chapels were added to the 16C and 17C.  The construction of the current Church begins with the choir in 1226. The nave and the transept dating from the 14C and 15C are of Brabant Gothic style. The façade is surmounted by two towers and dates from the years 1470-1485. It was only in 1962 that Brussels, hitherto dependent on the archbishopric of Malineneux, was the Primate of Belgium, and was associated with this episcopal office under the title of the Diocese of Mechelen-Brussels. This is how the collegiate Church was promoted to the rank of CoCathedral.

The Official Cathedral St Michael and St Gudule: https://www.cathedralisbruxellensis.be/en/

The Brussels tourist office on the Cathedral St Michael and St Gudule:  https://www.visit.brussels/en/visitors/venue-details.Cathedrale-Saints-Michel-et-Gudule.478

Beautiful 3D view of the exterior and interior of the Cathedral on the ilotsacre site: http://www.ilotsacre.be/images/virtualvisit/sainte_gudule-sint_goedele.htm

The Heritage monuments of Brussels on the Cathedral : https://monument.heritage.brussels/fr/buildings/30595

There you go folks, there are so much to see in Brussels ,and some are very popular, but this is part of the history of the city, its architecture styles, and beautiful place to see. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the the Cathedral Saint Michael and Saint Gudule of Brussels, part I !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!