Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (Brussels)

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St. Michael and St. Gudula
Statue of King Baudouin in front of the cathedral.

The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula ( French: Cathédrale St. Michel et Gudule; ndl. Sint-Michiels en Sint-Goedelekathedraal ), often shortened to St. Gudule , is the main church of the city of Brussels and the seat of the Archbishop of Mechelen- Brussels .

history

In the place of today's cathedral on the Treurenberg there was already a baptismal church consecrated to the Archangel Michael in Carolingian times (8th century) . With the transfer of the remains of Saint Gudula here in 1047, the patronage was expanded accordingly. The current construction began in 1226 and was completed at the end of the 15th century with the completion of the 69 meter high towers.

Looting and destruction took place during the French Revolution , and thefts were also common in other historical events.

On December 16, 1960, the wedding of King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola took place in this church . On this occasion, a monument was erected to the king in the park in front of the church.

With the elevation to co- cathedral in 1962, the church officially received the title of cathedral. As the national church of the Kingdom of Belgium , St. Gudula often hosts royal weddings, state funerals and similar ceremonies.

On April 12, 2003, the Brussels community celebrated the church wedding of Prince Laurent of Belgium with Claire Coombs here.

Architecture and equipment

Main nave

St. Gudula is built in the Gothic style. The two towers look rather unfinished, they lack the magnificent Gothic spiers that can be seen in other places of worship.

A wide flight of stairs leads to the entrances to the nave, but also to the tower entrances on both sides. The two-door church portal has two doors and is designed as a pointed arch . There is a slender, pointed arch window made of sandstone above the portal.

The entire interior design is characterized by three different architectural styles. The 1200 glass paintings of the 16 choir windows, some of which date back to the 16th century, ensure a bright, light-flooded interior. In 1910 the Frankfurt glass painters Rudolf and Otto Linnemann created windows for the church.

On the pillars of the nave are twelve larger-than-life apostle figures by Luc Fay d'Herbe and Jérôme Duquesnoy from the 17th century.

The altar is made of white and black marble and was placed in the choir in 1660. In addition, the cathedral has a high altar , which was built in 1888. Its equipment with gold-plated copper is striking . The grave monument of Duke John II of Brabant is located near the high altar .

Baroque pulpit

The baroque pulpit, carved by Henri-Francois Verbruggen in 1669, shows the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise in full-scale, life-size . The Blessed Sacrament Chapel Chapelle du Saint-Sacrament and their equipment is in connection with the Brussels sacrament miracle to see from 1370, in which a disgraced host to have begun suddenly to bleed.

  • View through the central nave

  • chapel

  • Statues

  • Chapel lattice

  • View into the vault

  • North transept window

The Romanesque crypt under the main nave has been preserved and can be visited (for a fee). A treasure museum has been set up in other rooms.

Organs

There are two organs in the cathedral: the main organ on the north wall of the nave, and a choir organ.

Main organ

Main organ
Central housing body

The main organ was built in 2000 by the organ builder Gerhard Grenzing (El Papiol, Spain). It hangs as a swallow's nest organ at the level of the triforias in the main nave. The instrument has 63 registers on four manual works and a pedal , which are housed in three organ bodies: The central housing body houses the four manual works: at the top is the main work, with the principal 16 ′ in the prospectus ; underneath are the swellable solo work and the Spanish trumpets. The console is located under the solo work. On this “level” there is enough space for soloists to make music directly with the organist. The positif facing the church is located below the level of the play area, behind it is the recit expressif (swellwork), which emits sound to the side. The central organ body does not protrude more than 1 meter into the main nave. The expressive recit protrudes into the north aisle. The central body of the case is flanked by two much slimmer organ bodies, which also extend less deeply into the nave, in which the pedal stops are housed, each on two levels. The organ weighs a total of around 30 tons, which are distributed over four pillars of the nave by dividing the organ into three parts. The game actions are mechanical, the stop actions are electric. A special feature is that the action actions of the pedal mechanism in the two flanking side towers, which are each suspended at a distance of 2 meters from the central housing, are mechanical. The action runs horizontally from the central housing to the pedal towers. Since they are made of nylon rope, they are barely visible. The wind is generated by seven bellows (six of which are wedge bellows).

Disposition
I Positif de Dos C – a 3
1. Bourdon 16 ′
2. Montre 08th'
3. Quintadène 08th'
4th Prestant 04 ′
5. Flûte à cheminée 04 ′
6th Nazard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
7th Duplicate 02 ′
8th. Tierce 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
9. Larigot 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
10. Mixture V-VI
11. Trumpets 08th'
12. Cromorne 08th'
Tremblant
II Hoofdwerk C-a 3
13. Montre 16 ′
14th Montre 08th'
15th Flûte harmonique 08th'
16. Bourdon à cheminée 08th'
17th Viole de gambe 08th'
18th Prestant 04 ′
19th Flûte conique 04 ′
20th Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
21st Duplicate 02 ′
22nd Mixture V
23. Cymbals III-IV
24. Trumpets 16 ′
III Récit expressif C – a 3
25th Cor de nuit 08th'
26th Salicional 08th'
27. Viol 08th'
28. Voix céleste 08th'
29 Prestant 04 ′
30th Flûte octaviante 04 ′
31. Nazard 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
32. Fourth 02 ′
33. Sifflet 01'
34. Plein-Jeu IV-V
35. Tiercelette III
36. Basson 16 ′
37. Trompette harmonique 08th'
38. Hautbois 08th'
Tremblant
IV Solo expressif C – a 3
39. Bourdon 08th'
40. viola 08th'
41. Voce umana 08th'
42. Prestant 04 ′
43. Flageolet 02 ′
44. Larigot 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
45. Cornet V 08th'
46. Trompeta Batalla 0 08th'
47. Voix humaine 08th'
48. Douçaine 08th'
Tremblant


Bombards
49. Trompeta magna 16 ′
50. Trompeta magna 08th'
51. Bayoncillo 04 ′
Pedal C – g 1
52. Principal 16 ′
53. Soubasse 16 ′
54. Major fifth 10 2 ⁄ 3  ′
55. Flute 08th'
56. Bass 08th'
57. Gros Nazard 05 1 ⁄ 3  ′
58. Prestant 04 ′
59. Fittings V.
60. Contre trombone 32 ′
61. trombone 16 ′
62. Trumpets 08th'
63. Clairon 04 ′
  • Pair: I / II, III / II, IV / II, III / I, I / P, II / P, III / P, IV / P

Choir organ

Choir organ

The two-manual choir organ was created in 1977 in the workshop of the organ builder Patrick Collon .

Disposition
I main work C – a 3
01. Drone 16
02. Principal 08th'
03. Dumped 08th'
04th Octave 04 ′
05. Pointed flute 04 ′
06th Fifth 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
07th Super octave 02 ′
08th. third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
09. Mixture IV
10. Cimbel III
11. Trumpet 08th'
II substation C – a 3
12. Dumped 08th'
13. Quintadena 08th'
14th Principal 04 ′
15th Reed flute 04 ′
16. Nasat 02 2 ⁄ 3  ′
17th Octave 02 ′
18th third 01 3 ⁄ 5  ′
19th Quint 01 1 ⁄ 3  ′
20th Sif flute 01'
21st Mixture III
22nd Vox Humana 08th'
Tremulant
Pedals C – f 1
23. Subbas 16
24. Principal bass 08th'
25th Octav bass 04 ′
26th Trombone bass 16
27. Trumpet bass 08th'
28. Clarin bass 04 ′
  • Coupling: II / I, I / P

Bells

A total of 50 bells hang in the towers of the cathedral. Of these, 49 bells belong to a carillon in the south tower. In the north tower hangs the Salvator bell , the largest bell (Bourdon). It was cast in 1638 by the bell founder Peter van den Gheyn and is only rung with a swinging bell on special occasions.

The cathedral received its first carillon as early as 1762, which was destroyed during the French Revolution. The bells of today's Carillon were cast by the bell foundries Horacantus (Lokeren) and Royal Eijsbouts (Asten, NL). Seven bells are hung on cranked yokes, swinging and ringing, and some are named after (former) members of the royal family.

Chime bell and seven carillon bells
No. Surname Casting year Caster Weight (kg) Chime
1 Salvator 1638 Peter van den Gheyn
Peter de Clerck, Mechelen		 6645 g 0
2 Fabiola 1966 Horacantus, Lokeren 3164 b 0
3 Maria 2298 c 1
4th Michael 1628 d 1
5 Gudula 1332 e 1
6th Philippe 1966 Royal Eijsbouts , Asten, NL 975 f 1
7th Astrid 690 g 1
8th Laurent 485 a 1

literature

  • Raymond van Schoubroeck, Hans-Günther Schneider: Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, Brussels. Art Guide No. 2463, Verlag Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2003, ISBN 3-7954-6342-4

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels , accessed on April 18, 2020.
  2. ↑ Brussels, Place Sainte-Gudule, monument to King Baudouin in front of the Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule , accessed on April 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ St. Gudule on www.bruessel.citysam.de; accessed on April 18, 2020.
  4. ↑ Information about the organ on the website of the organ builder.
  5. ↑ To the choir organ
  6. ↑ Information on the bells ; Video recording of the peal on YouTube.

Coordinates: 50 ° 50 '52 "  N , 4 ° 21' 37"  O

Web links

Commons : Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (Brussels)  - Collection of images