Heilig-Bloedbasiliek

The Heilig-Bloedbasiliek takes its name from the relic of Christ's blood brought here after the Crusades, sometime between 1150 and 1200. The church has two distinct and highly contrasting sections: the sombre 12th-century lower chapel, built along pure Romanesque lines and almost devoid of decoration, and the much-renovated and lavishly embellished upper chapel, accessed by wide stairs near the lower chapel's entrance.

In the upper chapel is the silver tabernacle containing the phial that holds a few drops of the holy blood. This relic is still venerated in one-hour services at 10:00 and 15:00 every Friday. On Ascension Day it is paraded through the city in Bruges' biggest annual event, the Heilig-Bloedprocessie.(Holy Blood Procession; www.holyblood.com) Duck into the pint-sized Museum of the Holy Blood next door to see the jewel-coated reliquary that holds the phial during the procession. This is Belgium's oldest, and arguably most beautiful, stadhuis. Built between 1376 and 1420, its exquisite turreted Gothic stone façade is decorated with replica statues of the counts and countesses of Flanders (the originals were torn down in 1792 by French soldiers). Inside, a few rooms are open to the public but the chief attraction is the 1st-floor Gotische Zaal.