| Double chapel:. On ground level : St.
Basil's Chapel (1139-1149) in roman style. The first floor
chapel, converted into gothic style in the 15th century, contains
a.o. the famous Relic of the Holy Blood (worship : every
Friday). Church services on Sundays: 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.
The museum displays the reliquary of
the Holy Blood, clerical vestments and paintings.
Since 1149, the Basilica of the
Holy Blood in Bruges has housed a fragment of cloth stained with
what is said to be the coagulated blood of Christ, wiped
from his body after the crucifixion by Joseph of Arimathea.
Legend says the holy cloth was
brought to Bruges at the time of the Second Crusade by the Count
of Flanders, Diederik van de Elzas, who received it from
the Patriarch of Jerusalem. More
probably, the relic came from Constantinople, which in 1204 was
sacked by the Crusader army of Count of Flanders Baldwin IX. This
is not known for certain, however.
The relic is embedded in a
rock-crystal vial, which itself is inside a small glass cylinder
adorned with a golden crown at each end. Normally the relic is
kept in a magnificent tabernacle, on which is an image of the
"lamb of Christ," on a side altar in the upper chapel.
The sacred relic is brought out
regularly on friday so that the faithful can kiss it, and every
year, in the colorful Procession
of the Holy Blood on Ascension Day, the bishop of
Bruges carries the relic through the streets, accompanied by
costumed residents acting out biblical scenes.
The relic is shown to the
public every Friday and every day from the 3rd to the 17th of May.
Outside the chapel is the Holy Blood museum, which contains the
shrine for the Holy Blood and other treasures belonging to the
chapel.
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€ 99