Brussels: area by area: The Upper Town – Cathédrale Sts Michel et Gudule

This church is to be found at the Treurenberg hill on the edge between lower and upper town. Already at the beginning of the 11th century a church was situated here. In 1047 the Duke of Brabant, Lambert II, had the relics of Saint Gudula transferred from the Saint Gorik church in downtown Brussels to the new church at the Treurenberg hill. From that moment on the Saint Gudula and Saint Michael church took the lead over all the other churches in Brussels.
Because of its growing importance, the first St. Gudula church originally built in Romanesque style was transformed in gothic style as from the 13th century. Today, the foundations of the first church can still be seen under the crypt of the gothic cathedral.
The gothic choir was constructed between 1226 and 1276, nave and transept in the middle of the 15th century.
The western facade, completed between 1450 and 1490, follows the example of the French gothic facades.