St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral

The facade

St. Michael and Gudula Cathedral is the Cathedral in Brussels. It is named in honour of St. Michael and St. Gudula. In Dutch it is called Sint-Michiels- en Sint-Goedelekathedraal, usually shortened to "Sint-Goedele". In French it is called Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule. It is the main church of the bishop of Brussels and Mechelen.

There already was a shrine (or chapel) to Saint Michael there in the 8th century. The Cathedral was begun in 1226. Building finished when the belltower (or belfry) was done, at the end of the 15th century. The cathedral is built in Gothic style. As it is the main Church of the Kingom of Belgium, there are often royal ceremonies, such as marriages and funerals, there.

St. Michael And Gudula Cathedral Media

• 

  Detail of Pastoral Instruction, c. 1480, showing the Church of St. Gudula's north tower still incomplete

• 

  The cathedral's main features

• 

  St. Gudula's Church, engraving by Erycius Puteanus, 1646

• 

  St. Gudula's Church, etching by Pieter Devel from Les délices des Pays-Bas, 1711

• 

  St. Gudula's Church, painting by Andreas Martin, before 1762

• 

  Baptism of Louis-Philippe of Belgium, son of King Leopold I, in St. Gudula's Church, 1833

• 

  The church in the early 20th century

• 

  The street (now demolished) in front of the church, in the 1920s

• 

  Funeral of Queen Elisabeth at the (by then) cathedral, 30 November 1965