St Rumbold’s Cathedral was built in the thirteenth century. From the outset it was larger and more impressive than all the other parish churches and later on it became ‘the church of the archbishops’. Originally there was a triple-nave cruciform church on the site of the vast cathedral. Only after a series of building campaigns did the church become our city’s star attraction.
In the religious wars in the sixteenth century the church took some hard knocks. Much of the old interior was lost to iconoclasms and plundering. Calvinist rule at the end of that century removed all references to Catholic worship. But the church had even more storms to weather. In the Second World War Mechelen was bombed and in 1972 a huge fire broke out. St Rumbold’s Cathedral withstood them all.
The inside of the cathedral is breathtaking. You can admire Anthony van Dyck’s painting ‘Christ on the Cross’, along with works by (among others) Michel Coxcie, Gaspard de Crayer and Abraham Janssens. The real showpiece, however, has to be the high altar by Lucas Faydherbe which dates from 1665.
wow, the interiors are positively gleaming! and the first shot shows how imposing the structure is.
It is an amazing structure. I was sad to see in places that the interior was crumbling.
Would make a great hotel (thinking of the place you stayed…), but perhaps not. An awesome structure.
I think this one needs to stay as it is. It has so much history (arts and treasures) inside.
Maybe Andrew could bring a sleeping bag. I’m sure THEY would let him stay for the night.
WOW! That’s all I can say.
It is pretty spectacular isn’t it?
Most unusual to see the buildings in close proximity to the Cathedral.
A lot of the churches in Mechelen when in such close proximity to other buildings. In some cases it was quite a challenge to take photographs.