Basilica of the Holy Blood

The Basilica of the Holy Blood stands in the Burg, the medieval civic square of Bruges, in West Flanders, Belgium, next to the Gothic town hall. The building consists of two chapels stacked on top of each other. The lower chapel, dedicated to St Basil, was built in the early 12th century in a plain, dark Romanesque style, with thick round columns and a tympanum showing the baptism of Christ. The upper chapel, reached by a monumental staircase, was originally Romanesque but was rebuilt in Gothic style and richly decorated in the 19th century with painted walls and gilded ceilings. The facade, with its elaborate Gothic and Renaissance elements, dates from 1523 to 1534. According to tradition, Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, brought a relic of the Holy Blood from Jerusalem after the Second Crusade, around 1150. The relic is kept in a rock-crystal vial and is displayed for veneration in the upper chapel, usually in the afternoon. The chapel is also the focus of the annual Procession of the Holy Blood on Ascension Day, in which citizens in medieval costume carry the relic through the streets; UNESCO recognised the procession in 2009. French revolutionaries sacked the building in 1797, and the relic was hidden and later returned, with the church restored in the 19th century. A small museum next to the upper chapel contains the treasury, including a 17th-century silver and gold reliquary shrine made in 1617, along with paintings, tapestries and liturgical vessels. The basilica is still an active church with services in Dutch. Its blend of Romanesque austerity below and Gothic richness above makes the site a compact study of architectural change in Bruges. The fabric is well maintained and regularly conserved.