Victor Hugo called Brussels Cathedral the only real Gothic church. This architectural monument connects the lower and upper cities. Interestingly, with its towers it is very reminiscent of its famous "brother" - Notre Dame de Paris.
History of creation
The Brussels Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula towers majestically on a hill called Torenberg. He is rightly considered the main one in the capital of Belgium. In the eleventh century, in its place was the church of St. Michael, built in the Romanesque style . Two centuries later, it was transformed into Gothic. Apparently, therefore, the appearance that Brussels Cathedral has today, its interiors and facades are a combination of these two areas.
The history of this amazing beautiful and majestic architectural monument has its roots in the thirteenth century. In 1226, the Duke of Brabant Henry laid the first brick in his building. However, the construction was completed only during the reign of Charles V the Great. Fragments that remained from the previous church, dating from the eleventh century, in the Romanesque style, visitors today can see through glass openings arranged in the floor. The Brussels Cathedral (Belgium) in its modern appearance is the imposition of several architectural directions, including the Renaissance, Romanesque and Gothic.
Description
The main facade begins with a monumental staircase. The first thing that catches the eye of a tourist is two square towers sixty-nine meters high. They are interconnected by a gable roof, which is decorated with niches and arches. In the central part, a fairly large portal opens with statues of saints. Lateral facades, from the point of view of architecture, are practically in no way inferior to the appearance of the main facade. A rather large oblong window is arranged above the portal.
With its exterior, the Brussels Cathedral (Belgium) is a Gothic symmetrical composition. Its twin towers sparkled after the city authorities removed age-old dirt from their walls. Inside each of them there are long staircases that open onto the terrace at sixty-four meters high. It offers an amazing panorama of the city.
On the main facade there are four doors with three lancet portals for entrances, decorated with sculptures of saints on the upper part. The Brussels Cathedral was built by the architect Jean van Ruezbrek - the author of the city hall.
The doors of the temple are decorated with wrought-iron reliefs, and a huge stained-glass window is made above its central entrance.
Dimensions
The length of the cathedral is one hundred and fourteen meters with a length of one hundred and nine. The height of its two towers is 64 m. It is interesting that similar elements of Notre Dame Cathedral are almost two times lower. The height of the main hall is twenty-five meters, and the columns are six hundred seventy centimeters.
Interesting Facts
St. Michael, in whose honor this cathedral was named in Brussels, has long been considered the patron saint of the city. But the name of St. Gudula does not mean anything to most people. In general, little is known about this daughter of a wealthy seventh-century Carolingian aristocrat, although her relics have been stored here for more than a millennium. Tourists are told the legend that this devout young resident of Brussels at night annoying demon prevented from reading religious books: he kept blowing out candles. Each time the girl ignited them again, and, apparently, for such constancy she was canonized.
Interior decoration
The construction of the Brussels Cathedral stretched for three whole centuries. It was restored a few years ago. Its walls, considerably darkened over the centuries, again flashed with whiteness, giving the structure a look of incredible grace and weightlessness. Tourists are allowed to descend into the basement located in the center of the cathedral, where they can see the ruins left over from the original church.
If you climb a majestic stone staircase and enter the main gate, then you will see stunning imagination with the size of the room. It is impossible to remain indifferent to the beauty of the vaulted ceilings, the height and scale of the columns, which are decorated with baroque sculptures depicting apostles in full size.
Brussels Cathedral has fairly high windows. They are decorated with beautiful colored stained-glass windows. This is another element that is inherent in classical Gothic. Stained-glass windows depict historical fragments describing the life of the Virgin, most of which date back to the times of the Renaissance. Staining the sun's rays passing through them, colored glass immerses the temple in a bewitching twilight.
The main department in the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula is also made in the Baroque style. It is divided into two parts: below it shows the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and from the upper part the Virgin Mary and the Baby look at the visitors.
For tourists
In addition to enjoying the stunning beauty of Brussels Cathedral, anyone who comes here can listen to an organ music concert. On Sundays, there are melodies that play the forty-nine bells of the south tower of the temple. The cathedral is open for visitors all week: from Monday to Friday, it can be reached from seven in the morning until six in the evening, and on Saturdays and Sundays it opens an hour later.