NOTRE-DAME CHURCH (ONZE-LIEVE-VROUWEKERK)
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Church of Our Lady, one of the largest in Belgium, with a brick roof, the highest in Europe, in Brabantine Gothic style
Built from 1230 onwards, first in Scaldian Gothic, then in Brabant Gothic, it is one of the largest churches in Belgium. Its most attractive exterior feature is its 118 m high pointed tower, one of the tallest all-brick buildings in the world. This tower will become an example for many other bell towers in the region, especially near the coast.
Inside, the choir houses the funerary monuments of Charles the Bold and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy. Her face looks as if she had been laid on the catafalque the day before. The only daughter of the Bold, she married Maximilian of Austria and gave birth to Philip the Handsome, father of Emperor Charles V. Sadly, the young duchess died of a fall from a horse at the age of 25. The church still contains many works of art, including Michelangelo's Carrara marble group of the Madonna and Child (1504-1505), the master's only sculpture outside Italy, made for Siena Cathedral but purchased by a Bruges family. This graceful Madonna has had its share of adventures, most recently being stolen by German occupiers in 1944. She was found by the Monument Men in a salt mine in Austria, hidden there along with many other works of art.
There are also paintings by Flemish primitives, such as Bernard van Orley's Passion Triptych.
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