Bruges - Sint-Salvatorskathedraal

From the Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk the short Heilige Geeststraat makes its way past the Bishop's Palace (16th-18th C.) to Sint-Salvatorskathedraal, the oldest parish church in Bruges and a cathedral since 1834. Originally founded in the 10th C. most parts of the present building date from the 12th and 13th centuries.

The fortress-like 99m/325ft-high west tower was constructed in several phases, the lower Romanesque portion between 1116 and 1227 and the brick section between 1183 and 1228.

Building continued in the 15th C. and again in the 19th C., the Neo-Romanesque upper part being added between 1844 and 1846 and the steeple in 1871. Over the centuries the cathedral has survived four fires as well as the iconoclastic fury.