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Marian Shrine


CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF BRUGES, BELGIUM

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Home » Church of Our Lady of Bruges, Belgium


CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF BRUGES






INTRODUCTION



The Church of Our Lady (Dutch: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk) in Bruges, Belgium, dates
mainly from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. This church is essentially “a
monument to the wealth, sophistication, taste, and devotion of this most
Catholic city, whose history and faith stand today celebrated in this wonderful
building” and it is one of the oldest places of worship in Bruges, and a tourist
attraction. Until the end of the Ancien Régime, it was a collegiate church with
a provost and a chapter of canons, later a decanal church.

The Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium, is a magnificent medieval church
which was constructed over a period of at least two hundred years, starting in
the 13th century.

The 115.6-metre-high, fully brick-built tower dominates the Bruges cityscape.
The Church of Our Lady, one of the tallest buildings in Belgium, is the second
tallest brick building in the world (after the 130.6-metre-tall St. Martin’s
Church in Landshut, Germany).

The church demonstrates the Gothic style in the prominent Flying buttresses on
the exterior which were constructed in the 1270s and 80s. The nave contains
cross-vaults and black and white tiled flooring. The interior demonstrates the
heavily ornamented Baroque style in the side aisles and chancel. One of the
chapels in the church was created in 1482 for a wealthy man named Lodewijk van
Gruuthuse, as his personal worship area.

It is a recognized parish church within Bruges and has been part of the parish
federation of Saint Donatian since the early 21st century. Since the 1980s it
also functions as a tourist ‘reception church’. Since 2019, the church has been
included in the umbrella organization Musea Brugge.

Today, visitors to the Church of Our Lady can walk up the tight circular
staircase for a remarkable view of the city centre square. Among the other
attractions to be found within the church are the impressive 16th century tombs
of Charles the Bold and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy, who ruled the Low
Countries until her death in 1482, at the age of just 25, after a fall from her
horse.

Perhaps the most famous element of the Church of Our Lady in Bruges is the white
marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child created by Michelangelo in
approximately 1504. It is one of just a handful of Michelangelo’s sculptures to
be found outside Italy.


HISTORY OF CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF BRUGES




The first church on this site, a Carolingian chapel, dates from about 875. In
the church’s archives, the foundation is dated to the year 741 and attributed to
Boniface, but this claim is doubtful, as the oldest patronymicum goes back to
his companion Hilarius. The chapel was founded, according to the current thesis,
as a daughter church of the Sint-Maartenskerk in Sijsele, which in turn was
owned by the Dom van Utrecht. In 1116 the chapel separated from Sijsele and
became the main church of an independent parish. Presumably for this reason the
structure was rebuilt and expanded under Charles the Good.

From about 1230, the construction of the current church was started. The oldest
part, the nave, was built in Tournai stone, in the typical Scheldt Gothic style.
The influence of Scheldt Gothic is also recognizable on the front and west
facade, with the two typical stair turrets and the use of blue stone. The choir
area and apse, built between 1270 and 1280, exude classical French Gothic, but
this one entirely in brick. In 1370 the northern beech was built and in 1450 the
southern one. Around 1465, the Paradise Portal was built in Brabantine Gothic.

The tower of the Church of Our Lady is the tallest building in the city of
Bruges. The first tower collapsed in 1163 and was rebuilt between about 1270 and
1340; the spire was added only in the 15th century and rebuilt in the 19th
century. The use of brick is typical of the Coastal Gothic style. The church has
five naves. In the middle of the nave, the rood screen, which consists of three
parts, divides the church into two parts: the high choir and the nave. The
apostle statues are from the 17th century.


MADONNA OF BRUGES




The Madonna of Bruges is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of the Virgin and
Child. Michelangelo’s depiction of the Madonna and Child differs significantly
from earlier representations of the same subject, which tended to feature a
pious Virgin smiling down on an infant held in her arms. Instead, Jesus stands
upright, almost unsupported, only loosely restrained by Mary’s left hand, and
appears to be about to step away from his mother.

Meanwhile, Mary does not cling to her son or even look at him, but gazes down
and away. It is believed the work was originally intended for an altar piece. If
this is so, then it would have been displayed facing slightly to the right and
looking down. The early 16th-century sculpture also displays the High
Renaissance Pyramid style frequently seen in the works of Leonardo da Vinci
during the late 1400s.

Madonna and Child shares certain similarities with Michelangelo’s Pietà, which
was completed shortly before – mainly, the chiaroscuro effect and movement of
the drapery. The long, oval face of Mary is also reminiscent of the Pietà.

The work is also notable in that it was the first sculpture by Michelangelo to
leave Italy during his lifetime. In 1504, it was bought by Giovanni and
Alessandro Moscheroni (Mouscron), who were wealthy cloth merchants in Bruges,
then one of the leading commercial cities in Europe. The sculpture was sold for
4,000 florins.

The sculpture was removed twice from Belgium after its initial arrival. The
first was in 1794 after French Revolutionaries had conquered the Austrian
Netherlands during the French Revolutionary Wars; the citizens of Bruges were
ordered to ship it and several other valuable works of art to Paris. It was
returned after Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo in 1815. The second removal
was in 1944, during World War II, with the retreat of German soldiers, who
smuggled the sculpture to Germany enveloped in mattresses in a Red Cross truck.

It was discovered a year later in Altaussee, Austria within a salt mine and
again returned. It now sits in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium. This
is represented in the 2014 film The Monuments Men.


TOMBS AND CHOIR




The church is known, among other things, because Mary of Burgundy is buried
there. During archaeological research in 1979, her remains were identified. Only
the tomb of her father, Karel de Stoute, is present here. His remains were
transferred from France to Bruges by Emperor Charles V, a grandson of Mary. He
was probably buried in the now-defunct Sint-Donaas Cathedral on the Burg. His
corpse was never found. The tombs are located in the high choir of the church.

Above the high altar is a triptych by Margaret of Austria’s court painter,
Bernard van Orley. It is a passion story with the crucifixion in the middle. At
the foot of the altar, under the tombs, three richly painted tombs have been
uncovered.

The lead coffin in one of the tombs (visible) contains the bones of Mary who
died in Bruges in 1482. An inscription indicates that the heart of her son
Philip the Fair, father of Charles V, is kept in a separate lead box.

The tomb of Mary and also the oldest, was designed by Jan Borman. Both monarchs
are depicted in a recumbent position with folded hands, according to medieval
custom. With open eyes they contemplate eternal life. At their feet, lion and
dog act as symbols of masculine strength and feminine fidelity.

The face of Mary of Burgundy is delicately depicted, modeled after the death
mask. Her crown adorned with jewels, her hands and her lush billowing cloak are
a miniature work of art. The funerary monument is still completely Gothic in
concept and spirit.

The tomb of Charles the Bold is half a century younger. The elaboration is part
Gothic, part Renaissance. The lines are much tighter, but the armor is artfully
and detailed. Both black sarcophagi have memorial plaques on the front and on
the side walls you can see the enameled family shields of the ancestors.

Thirty coats of arms of Knights of the Golden Fleece hang above the choir stalls
. The first shield on the left is that of Charles the Bold, directly opposite
that of his brother-in-law Edward IV of England. The coats of arms recall the
chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece held in this church in 1468.


MARY AND CHILD BY MICHELANGELO




Michelangelo ‘s world-famous work, Madonna and Child, intended for the
Piccolomini altar of Siena Cathedral, is one of the most important works of art
preserved in the Church of Our Lady. It was purchased in Italy by the Bruges
merchant Jan van Moeskroen (Giovanni di Moscerone) and donated to the church in
1514. The donor’s family tomb is located at the foot of the altar, in front of
the statue.

The statue was removed in 1794 by the French occupiers and in 1944 by the German
occupiers, but could always be returned to Bruges.


LANCHALS CHAPEL



Pieter Lanchals (1440-1488) was the bailiff of Bruges who was beheaded by the
citizens of Bruges for his loyalty to Burgundy and to Maximilian of Austria. His
head was exhibited at the Gentpoort. His funerary monument was partly preserved
in the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk.

According to a legend that originated in the 19th century, Emperor Maximilian I,
husband of Mary of Burgundy, ordered the city to maintain 52 long -necked swans
for eternity and to let them swim in the canals.




BURIALS



In the choir space behind the high altar are the tombs of Charles the Bold, last
Valois Duke of Burgundy, and that of his daughter, the duchess Mary. The gilded
bronze effigies of both father and daughter repose at full length on polished
slabs of black stone. Both are crowned, and Charles is represented in full armor
and wearing the decoration of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The dress and
ornamentation of the bronzed Mary is consistent with the Gothic style, and
around the sides of the stone is a genealogy.

There is glass over the tomb opening so the frescoes on the walls are visible
from above, with Jan Borman being the creator of the tomb. The English founder
of the convent at Antwerp, Mary Lovel, was buried by the high altar in 1628. She
died here whilst trying to establish another convent in the city.




FEAST DAY – 21ST MARCH



Annual Feast Day of Our Lady of Bruges celebrated on 21st March.


MASS TIME




WEEKDAYS

12:00 (Noon)


SUNDAYS

10:00 am 11:15 am


CHURCH VISITING TIME

Weekdays : 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Sundays : 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm


CONTACT INFO


Church of Our Lady Bruges, 
Mariastraat, 8000 Brugge, Belgium


PHONE NO.



Tel : +32 50 34 53 14

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ACCOMMODATIONS





HOW TO REACH THE CHURCH



Ostend–Bruges International Airport, commonly known simply as Ostend Airport in
southwest of Ostend, West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, the city
centre of Bruges is the nearby Airport to the Church.

Brugge Transit Stop in Bruges, Belgium is the nearby Train Station to the
Church.


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