Museum van het Heilig Bloed

A relic of the Holy Blood is kept at the Basilica of the Holy Blood (Heilig-Bloedbasiliek) on Burg square in Bruges. According to tradition, Joseph of Arimathea collected it, and Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, brought it from the Holy Land. The church was built between 1134 and 1157 as the chapel of the Count of Flanders, became a minor basilica in 1923, and also operates as a museum, the Museum van het Heilig Bloed.

The basilica has two chapels, one above the other, in sharply different styles. The lower chapel, dedicated to St. Basil the Great, is a dark Romanesque space that remains virtually unchanged. The upper chapel, where the Passion relic is venerated, was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 16th century and renovated in the Gothic Revival style in the 19th century. The building is part of the Historic Centre of Brugge heritage designation.