Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed (Basilica of the Holy Blood)

St Basil's Chapel is the only Romanesque church building in West Flanders that has been almost completely preserved. This prayer room is austere and dark, with stone groin vault ceilings resting on heavy pillars. On a tympanum in the side aisle is a curious half-relief depicting the Baptism of Christ. The showpiece is undoubtedly the polychromed seated Madonna and Child (Sedes sapientiae) dating from the 14th century.

The upper chapel can be reached via a stairwell with reconstructed bluestone façade in a style transitioning from late Gothic to early Renaissance. The chapel was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 15th century and was given a colourful neo-Gothic finish in the 19th century. The relic of the Holy Blood, supposedly brought to Bruges by the Crusaders, is kept there. The stained glass windows of this room depict the various monarchs who ruled our regions for more than 400 years.

The museum of the Basilica is a kind of treasure chamber with numerous valuable works of art mainly related to the veneration of the relic of the Holy Blood. Several of the pieces that are kept here are on the Flemish Masterpiece List, such as the Great Shrine of the Holy Blood manufactured by the silversmith Jan Crabbe in 1614.

Since 1304, the Procession of the Holy Blood has passed through the historic city centre of Bruges almost every year on Ascension Day, with Biblical stories as its theme. During the Burgundian era, guilds, crafts, brotherhoods and chambers of rhetoric were responsible for the interpretation of the scenes. Now, around 1,800 enthusiastic residents sing, play music, dance and act. The Procession of the Holy Blood was recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009.