St Salvator's Cathedral, the cathedral of Bruges: its tapestries, its treasury and the city's churches

The tower

The tower is almost 80 metres high, according to the cathedral. After a fire in 1839 destroyed the roofs and the top of the tower, the English architect Robert Dennis Chantrell designed a new neo-Romanesque crown, built from 1843 to 1846. The Royal Commission for Monuments then asked for a spire and corner turrets, added from 1865 to 1872. So the heavy, castle-like top that makes the tower easy to spot is 19th-century work on a 12th-century base.

The tapestries

Eight tapestries of the life of Christ hang in the choir, above the stalls. They were woven around 1730 in the Brussels workshop of Jasper Van der Borcht, in wool and silk, and six of them are about seven metres wide. Bishop Hendrik-Jozef van Susteren ordered them for St Donatian's: there the painted designs hung in the choir all year, and the tapestries were hung in front of them only on high feast days. His arms are woven at the top of each border and his motto, "Ut prosim" ("that I may be of use"), at the bottom.

The painted designs, by Jan van Orley or his brother Richard, are in the cathedral too. Compare one with its tapestry: the weaving technique makes every scene come out as a mirror image of the painting. The scenes run from the Adoration of the Shepherds to the Resurrection.

Bruges had its own weavers as well: tapestries were made in the city from about 1500 into the 17th century. The Gruuthuse Museum shows Flemish tapestries of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Golden Fleece above the choir stalls

The oak choir stalls date from around 1430. Above them hang the painted coats of arms of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, put up for the Order's chapter held here in 1478, a year after Charles the Bold was killed at Nancy. At that chapter Maximilian of Austria, husband of Charles's daughter Mary of Burgundy, was made head of the Order. Look for the word "trespassé" on a ribbon: it marks the knights who had already died.

Charles the Bold is the Karel de Stoute our hotel is named after. Our Charles the Bold guide tells his story.

Other works to look for

The rood screen at the west end, in white and black marble (1679 to 1682), crowned by God the Father by Artus Quellinus the Younger.

The two organs: the Van Eynde organ of 1717 to 1719, restored to its original state, and the Klais organ on the rood screen. Both were inaugurated in June 2023.

The tomb of Jean Carondelet (1549), one of the finest Renaissance sculptures in Bruges, brought from St Donatian's.

The shrine of Charles the Good (1883 to 1885), the count of Flanders murdered in St Donatian's in 1127. Not to be confused with Charles the Bold.

The treasury

The treasury is a small museum in the chapter wing, open since 2002. Its best piece is the Martyrdom of St Hippolytus, a triptych begun by Dirk Bouts around 1470 and finished after his death by Hugo van der Goes. There are also works by Pieter Pourbus, brass tomb slabs, ivories, manuscripts and goldsmiths' work. Its hours are a little shorter than the church's (below).

The churches and towers of Bruges

Three towers set the skyline of Bruges:

The Church of Our Lady: about 115 metres, the highest building in the city. Our Church of Our Lady guide has more.

The Belfry: 83 metres. It lost its wooden spire to a fire in 1741, when it was about 102 metres high.

St Salvator's: almost 80 metres, with its 19th-century crown.

Bruges has a dozen more churches and chapels worth a look, from St James's, the parish church of the Burgundian dukes, to the Jerusalem Chapel with its oriental tower. Our guide to the churches and towers of Bruges tells you which tower is which, what to see inside each, and when they are open.

Opening hours

The treasury's hours

Access and practical

How long do you need?

As a guide: 30 to 45 minutes for the church, and about as long again for the treasury.

Getting there from Hotel Karel de Stoute

The cathedral is about 10 minutes on foot from our door on Moerstraat, through the shopping streets towards 't Zand. It fits well between the Markt and the Church of Our Lady.