Bruges - Heilig-Bloedbasiliek

In 1134 Diederik van de Elzas (= Thierry d'Alsace"), Count of Flanders, commissioned to erect a chapel next to the his residence "Oud Steen" (now the town hall of Bruges). The chapel was dedicated to Saint Basil the Great. The basilica consisted of a lower and upper chapel, as a second chapel was erected on top of the Saint Basil chapel.

Diederik joined the Second Crusade in 1147 and - according to the tradition - returned to Bruges with the relic of the "Holy Blood", allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea.

So during the first half of the 13th century, the name of the upper chapel was changed to the Chapel of the Holy Blood. This (upper) chapel got severely damaged after the French Revolution and got rebuilt and renovated during the 19th century, giving it a very "neo-Gothic" touch. As the phial, containing the Holy Blood is on display here, the chapel was overcrowded by people standing in line to see and venerate the relic.

Seen next to the screen is an "Umbraculum" - a yellow/red umbrella. A symbol bestowed by Pope Pius XI when he elevated the church to the rank of a "Basilica Minor" in 1923.

www.holyblood.com/?lang=en