The most beautiful Gothic church in Belgium is considered to be the current Catholic Church of Our Lady in Bruges, towering in the central part of the city. This is one of the earliest brick buildings in Flanders. At 115.6 meters, its tower remains the city's tallest structure and the second tallest masonry tower in the world. In addition to believers, many tourists visit here every year, attracted by the beauty of medieval architecture and the beautiful creations contained in the Church of Our Lady.
History
The Church was founded by the Anglo-Saxon Archbishop Saint Boniface, a zealous distributor of Christianity in the Flemish lands. In the ninth century a chapel was built and run by the community of canons of St. Martin. The temple became a cathedral since 1091, and about ten years later, the construction of a new Romanesque church began. Its construction was financed by Count Charles I of Flanders, nicknamed the Good and, centuries after his death, canonized as a saint. The strongest fire of 1116, incinerating halfcity, also damaged the temple structure. Traces of the foundations of the first prayer house were found under the altar of the current Church of Our Lady during archaeological research in 1979.
Even before the fire, the temple began to acquire significant Christian relics, some of which were received as a gift with the active participation of Bishop Godebald from the city of Utrecht, the religious center of the Netherlands. One of these rarities was the relics of the Bishop of Mainz, St. Boniface, who was killed in 754, and the relics of his companions. The remains were kept in a tin shrine, at the beginning of the 17th century a silver ark was made for them, where the relics were solemnly transferred and where they remain in the Church of Our Lady today.
The construction of the current temple began in the XIII century, and for a long time of its existence, the church was not subjected to major destruction. The greatest damage was caused by riots and looting in the 16th century by iconoclasts, the French occupiers after the revolution of 1789, the German occupiers during the Second World War, and also by the hurricane of 1711, when the wind tore off the cross and drains from the main tower. In 1789, parishioners bought the church building, which, due to the events associated with the French Revolution, was auctioned off.
Architecture
The two-storey longitudinal main nave was built between 1210 and 1230. This is the period when the features of Gothic architecture from France actively began to penetrate into Flanders, and the central nave corresponds to the Flemish Sheldegotik style, combining Romanesque andgothic architecture. The second stage of construction lasted approximately from 1280 to 1335. At this time, two filigree stair towers were erected on the western facade (1280), the transept (transverse nave), the choir (altar part of the building), and in 1320 the erection of the mighty North Tower, which dominates the city landscape to this day, was completed. The structure reached 122.3 meters, and the construction of the 45-meter spire was completed after 20 years.
In 1345 the second northern nave was added to the central one, and from 1450 to 1474 its southern counterpart was built. These two outer naves of the five-stage complex, together with the later Gate of Paradise at the base of the tower, represent the Gothic style of Brabant, a province in northern France whose architecture had a significant influence on Flemish medieval building. In 1480 the sacristy and chapel were completed. The whole complex looks elegant, romantic and majestic, as can be seen from the numerous photos of the Church of Our Lady in Bruges.
Interior
If the external appearance of the Church of Our Lady delights, then its interior space makes an even stronger impression. The masonry of the red brick vaults creates a harmonious contrast with the stone elements. Graceful colonnades with lancet openings reproduce the shape of high windows. But more striking is the we alth of wooden carved, pictorial, sculptural works of sacred art collected in this temple for different time periods. Here are the masterpieces of the painters Van Ostade, Zegers, deCryer, Quellin. One of the Crucifixion paintings is believed to be by Van Dyck.
Two-meter-sized marble statues of the Twelve Apostles rise on the columns of the central nave. They seem to accompany the parishioners from the entrance to the main altar, above which rises a majestic crucifix made in 1594. It hovers above the worshipers and ascends to the pointed brick vaults. The wooden pulpit is decorated with exquisite carvings, and its main composition in the form of a female figure sitting on a globe symbolizes the Christian faith that embraces the whole world.
Special Attractions
Two magnificent sarcophagi - Charles the Bold, the last Duke of the Burgundian family of Valois and his daughter Mary of Burgundy, are kept with special reverence in the parish, as evidenced by their location - in the choir space, under the crucifix behind the central altar. Each coffin is made of black marble and decorated with bronze heraldic ornaments. The polished lids of the sarcophagi are filled with skillfully depicted in gilded bronze figures of the deceased, crowned, in full ceremonial attire, decorated with the orders of the Golden Fleece.
Like many European temples, the remains of some venerable parishioners are buried under the marble slabs of the Church of Our Lady. Several empty 14th-century chambers made of masonry or brickwork are on display under glass cases. On their plastered walls one can see well-preserved sacralimages.
The year 1468 was a special event for the church. Here was the II Chapter of the influential and powerful Order of the Golden Fleece, which was honored by the presence of the English King Edward IV, whose coat of arms is placed above the column at the choirs. The coats of arms of thirty knights, members of the chapter, are above the pews.
The altar of the large chapel in the southern gallery contains the main, spiritually and artistically, treasure of the church - a snow-white marble statue of the Virgin Mary with the baby by the genius Michelangelo.
Madonna of Bruges
The Church of Our Lady in Bruges received this statue in 1504 thanks to two citizens, we althy cloth merchants brothers Jan and Alexander Mouscron, who bought the work for 4,000 florins. This is the only sculpture by Michelangelo that left Italy during the life of the great sculptor. The work differs significantly from other early works of the sculptor of the same subject. Instead of a pious young maiden smiling at a baby in her arms, Michelangelo depicted Mary weakly holding her son with her left hand and looking down, to his right. Tenderness and sadness are embodied in her face, as if the mother knows the sacrificial fate of her child. Jesus stands upright, hardly supported by Mary, and seems to be about to move away from her.
Probably, the composition was created for the altar, but it does not meet many of the requirements of church canons. "Madonna and Child" shares some similarities with "Pieta"Michelangelo, a sculpture of Marie Lamenting Christ, which had been completed shortly before. The commonality is noticeable in the effects of chiaroscuro and the marble folds of the drapery, but the main similarity can be traced in the elongated oval face of Mary with an expression of humble sadness, which is also reminiscent of the Pieta. The sculpture produces a strong psychological impact even on people who are indifferent to religion, and for believers, they say, it causes true awe.
