3-071-745 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Basilica of the Holy Blood at Burg Square, Bruges, 1880-1890. Consists of two chapels: the lower and the upper - the lower chapel is dedicated to St. Basil the Great, and its construction began after 1149 and was completed in 1268. The founder was Theodore of Alsace (Diederic d'Alsace). It was built to house the relic of the blood of Christ, which, according to tradition, the founder received from the Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Second Crusade. This relic was supposed to be protected by Joseph of Arimathea while washing the body of Christ taken down from the cross. Until 1325, on Fridays, an unexplained phenomenon of the increase of blood stored in a vial and a crystal and gold reliquary was observed. The upper chapel was founded by Mary of Burgundy (her figurine is on the façade, like Theodore of Alsace and his son Philip).