Eliot's Travels

After a nice lunch, we hung out at the Sint Baafsplein while Jim ran to fee the parking meter. The boys ran along the stairs and ate their lemon lollipops and had a blast.

Afterwards, we walked into Sint BaafsKathedraal. The earlier Romanesque church had become to small and started to deteriorate by the end of the 13th century. It was then decided to construct a beautiful gothic cathedral above the old Saint John's church. Construction began in the 1300s and was finally complete in 1569. On the inside, the cathedral is very impressive with its 33 meter high roof constructed with bricks. During the Iconoclasm in 1566 a large part of the gothic decoration was destroyed a later replaced with renaissance and baroque art.

Inside, we enjoyed the organ and the magnificent pulpit. Eliot lit a prayer candle (tall one on the left) to send a special message to his Aunt Julie.

Nothing, however, matches the beauty of the most important work of art in Belgium that can be seen in the Saint Bavo cathedral: the famous 'Adoration of the mystic lamb', a polypthic painted by Jan and Hubert Van Eyck in 1432 for the chapel of Joost Vijd. It is stunning, especially the detail in the fabrics and the faces among the groups in the lamb panel. The audioguide was well done and informative.

posted by Whitney @ 8:41 AM