St. Donatian's Cathedral () was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

, Belgium. Located on the

Burg The German word Burg means castle. Burg or Bürg may refer to: Places Placename element * ''-burg'', a combining form in Dutch, German and English placenames * Burg, a variant of burh, the fortified towns of Saxon England Settlements * Burg, Aar ...

, one of the main squares in the city,Dunford and Lee, p.174.McDonald, p.14.McDonald, p.25. it was the largest church in Bruges. The cathedral was destroyed in 1799 in the wake of the dissolution of the Diocese of Bruges during the aftermath of the French Revolution.

History

St. Donatian's Church () was built by

Arnulf I, Count of Flanders Arnulf I (/899 – 27 March 964), called "the Great", was the first Count of Flanders. Life Arnulf was the son of margrave Baldwin II of Flanders and Ælfthryth of Wessex, daughter of Alfred the Great. Through his mother he was a descendant of ...

, c. 950 AD,McDonald, p.26. in order to house the relics of Saint Donatian that had been brought to Bruges in c. 870 AD by monks from

Torhout Torhout (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Torhout proper, the villages of Wijnendale and Sint-Henri ...

. On 2 March 1127, Charles the Good, Count of Flanders was assassinated in St. Donatian's. The church was built in the Romanesque architectural style. There was an octagonal main building, with a tower and a sixteen-sided

ambulatory The ambulatory ( 'walking place') is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th century but by the 13t ...

. The building stood on the

square, across from the ''Stadhuis'' (city hall). St. Donatian's Church became a cathedral following the installation of the first Bishop of Bruges in 1562. The Bishopric of Bruges was created in 1559 (McDonald, p.15, 26), but the position was not filled until 1562 (McDonald, p.26). St. Donatian's was destroyed in 1799 by occupying forces of the

French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted un ...

. The former site of St. Donatian's is now occupied by the ''Crowne Plaza Brugge Hotel''; the foundations of the cathedral were uncovered in 1955 and are visible in the hotel's cellars.

Artworks

Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...

's painting '' The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele'' (1436), which also depicts St. Donatian,Dunford and Lee, p.177.McDonald, p.98. was commissioned by

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Joris van der Paele as an altarpiece for the church. The painting is now housed in the

Groeningemuseum The Groeningemuseum is a municipal museum in Bruges, Belgium, built on the site of the medieval Eekhout Abbey. It houses a collection of Flemish and Belgian painting covering six centuries, from Jan van Eyck to Marcel Broodthaers. The museu ...

in Bruges (Dunford and Lee, p.177; McDonald, p.97-98). Jan van Eyck himself was buried in St. Donatian's Church in 1441. *

Jan Provoost Jan Provoost, or Jean Provost, or Jan Provost (1462/65 – January 1529) was a painter born in Mons, Belgium, Mons. Provost was a prolific master who left his early workshop in Valenciennes to run two workshops, one in Bruges, where he was made a ...

's altarpiece "Mary in Glory" (1524) also was made for this church. It was hidden during Reformation and found in the walls during demolition of building. Later painting was in king Willem II's collection, and after his death was bought by Russian Emperors for the Hermitage.https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/news/news_65_25?lng=ru

Notes

References

Sources

*Davis, R.H.C. (1990). ''King Stephen'', Third Edition. London and New York: Longman. *Dunford, M. and Lee, P. (2002). ''The Rough Guide to Belgium and Luxembourg'', Third Edition. London and New York: Rough Guides Ltd. *McDonald, G. (2002). ''Insight Compact Guide: Bruges'', Second Edition. Singapore: APA Publications. {{Coord, 51.209109, 3.227249, format=dms, type:landmark_region:BE, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Belgium Buildings and structures in Bruges Roman Catholic churches in Bruges Burial sites of the House of Metz Demolished buildings and structures in Belgium Buildings and structures demolished in 1799