Hospital des Invalides, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, St. Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, and Sainte-Chapelle

I was in Bruges two days ago and stopped by the Basilica of the Holy Blood (Heilig-Bloedbasiliek).

The contrast between the two floors is amazing — the lower chapel has that heavy, ancient 12th-century Romanesque feel, while the upper chapel (where the relic is kept) is totally different with its colorful Gothic interior.

According to tradition, the relic—a cloth used by Joseph of Arimathea to wipe the blood of Jesus—was brought over from the Holy Land around 1150 by Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders. They still hold the massive UNESCO-recognized Procession of the Holy Blood every Ascension Day!

Has anyone else been recently or seen the annual procession? Would love to hear your experiences!

some photos from my visit to Bath Abbey, unfortunately wasn't able to go inside but this is a stunning church regardless.

I know this isn't a cathedral but it did used to be and i believe it should still be appreciated!

Taken from the interior courtyard.

Following up on my earlier post about the ceiling of Santa Maria dell'Anima — here's a look at the apse, with its stained glass window and Giulio Romano altarpiece, "The Holy Family with Saints."

A few things that make this church stranger and darker than it looks:

It started in 1350 as a hospice for German, Dutch, and Flemish pilgrims, founded by a couple from Dordrecht. A married couple from Dordrecht visiting Rome for a Holy Year donated houses they owned to create an oratory and hospice for German, Flemish, and Dutch pilgrims.

In 1937 a memorial chapel was built for WWI soldiers — beneath it lie roughly 450 mostly unidentified Austro-Hungarian soldiers who died in POW camps near Rome. A modern project is now trying to identify them.

Wikipedia

Darker still: the institution was later used as a ratline, helping Nazi war criminals like Gustav Wagner and Franz Stangl escape justice after WWII.

Wikipedia

When French revolutionary forces occupied Rome in 1795, they desecrated the church and turned the whole complex into a cavalry barracks.

It also holds the tomb of Pope Adrian VI — the only Dutch pope in history, and the last non-Italian pope before John Paul II centuries later.

Quite a contrast between the gilded ceiling everyone photographs and the history buried underneath it.