St. Donatian's Cathedral (Dutch: Sint-Donaaskathedraal) was a Roman Catholic cathedral in Bruges, Belgium. Located on the Burg, one of the main squares in the city,[1][2][3] it was the largest church in Bruges. The cathedral was destroyed in 1799[1] in the wake of the dissolution of the Diocese of Bruges during the aftermath of the French Revolution.
History
editSt Donatian's Church (Dutch: Sint-Donaaskerk) was built by Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, c. 950 AD,[4] in order to house the relics of Saint Donatian that had been brought to Bruges in c. 870 AD by monks from Torhout.[2] The church was built in the Romanesque architectural style.[3] There was an octagonal main building, with a tower and a sixteen-sided ambulatory.[1] The building stood on the Burg square, across from the Stadhuis (city hall). St Donatian's Church became a cathedral following the installation of the first Bishop of Bruges in 1562.[4] [note 1] St. Donatian's was destroyed in 1799 by occupying forces of the French First Republic.[1] The former site of St Donatian's is now occupied by the Crowne Plaza Brugge Hotel;[1] the foundations of the cathedral were uncovered in 1955[1] and are visible in the hotel's cellars.[4]
- On 2 March 1127,[5] Charles the Good, Count of Flanders was assassinated in St Donatian's.[2][4]
- Jan van Eyck's painting The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele (1436), which also depicts St Donatian,[6][7] was commissioned by Canon Joris van der Paele as an altarpiece for the church.[7] [note 2] Jan van Eyck himself was buried in St Donatian's Church in 1441.[4]
Notes
edit- ^ The Bishopric of Bruges was created in 1559 (McDonald, p.15, 26), but the position was not filled until 1562 (McDonald, p.26).
- ^ The painting is now housed in the Groeningemuseum in Bruges (Dunford and Lee, p.177; McDonald, p.97-98).
References
editSources
edit- Davis, R.H.C. (1990). King Stephen, Third Edition. London and New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-04000-0
- Dunford, M. and Lee, P. (2002). The Rough Guide to Belgium and Luxembourg, Third Edition. London and New York: Rough Guides Ltd. ISBN 1-85828-871-1
- McDonald, G. (2002). Insight Compact Guide: Bruges, Second Edition. Singapore: APA Publications. ISBN 981-234-705-4