Religious heritage
Over the centuries many of Bruges’ churches, monasteries, abbeys and chapels have been active centres of religious life. This accounts for the city’s remarkable ecclesiastical heritage. But this patrimony is testimony to more than just its religious past. If the stone façades could speak they would have countless fascinating stories to tell about evolutions in education, the economy, society and culture.
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The Basilica of the Holy Blood was elevated to the status of Basilica in 1923, due to the special veneration of the Holy Blood. -
today: OpenA unique place with an orchard and meadows with cows at pasture. -
The Jerusalem Chapel is the private chapel of the Adornes family, an Italian merchant family from Genoa. -
The 115.5 metre-high brick church tower, the second tallest of the world, illustrates the craftsmanship of the Bruges builders. -
This hospital was first mentioned in records dating back to the 13th century, when the nuns cared for pilgrims, travellers and the sick here. Nowadays, the historic infirmary and convent are home to numerous works of art, religious artefacts and medical instruments from many centuries of care. The adjacent church, with its Baroque interior, is also worth a visit. -
Even many of Bruges’ residents are unfamiliar with the Chapel of Our Lady of the Blind. -
Nowadays, the 15th-century Sint-Joos refuge house is the Orthodox Church (Sts. -
This simple Gothic single-nave church, built in the 17th century, surprises with the opulence of its rich Baroque interior - the result of donations by wealthy local patrons. -
In this church, the only one in the city centre with a tower clock, many of the great Bruges artists have been buried. -
Benedictine nuns from Gistel already established themselves here in 1623. -
In the second quarter of the 13th century, the modest St. James’s Chapel was elevated to the status of a parish church.
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Bruges’ oldest parish church (12th–15th century) has amongst its treasures a rood loft with an organ, medieval tombs, Brussels tapestries and a rich collection of Flemish paintings (14th-18th century). -
In 1619, a Bruges lay brother, Pieter Huyssens, was commissioned to build a prestigious church that expressed the values and beliefs of the Jesuits. -
The religious residents of the English Convent and the Carmelite Convent invite you to explore their buildings and their traditional way of life.
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The St. Magdalene’s Church, built in the mid-19th century, was one of the earliest neo-Gothic churches on the European mainland.
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