Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

The current Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, built between the 13th and 15th centuries, is a veritable encyclopaedia of the evolution of the Brabantine Gothic style. Although the church was only elevated to cathedral status in 1962, it has always played a leading role in the history of Brussels.

The General Chapter of the Knights of the Golden Fleece was held here on two occasions. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, came here several times to pray, as recalled in one of the stained-glass windows in the transept. Governors attended thanksgiving masses, including Archduchess Isabella, daughter of Philippe II, or Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, brother-in-law of Empress Maria-Theresa. Napoleon, passing through Brussels, also visited, as did King William I of Orange, the day of his coronation, a tradition continued to this day by Belgian monarchs. Archduke Ernest of Austria is also buried there. With its superb tapestries, stained glass windows and sculptures, the cathedral still plays host, today, to royal marriages, like that of the Princes of Liège in 1959 or that of Prince Philippe and Princess Mathilde in 1999, and state funerals, such as those of King Baudouin in 1993, in the presence of the largest concentration of heads of state that the world has ever seen.