The
chapel of Saint Basil is the only church in Romanesque style
of West-Flanders.
Build in the first half of the 12th century by Derrick, Count
of Alsace (1128-1168), the chapel is dedicated to Saint Basil
the Great, a Greek doctor of the Church (+379) of whom a relic
was brought back from Caesarea by Robert II of Jerusalem, Count
of Flanders. The chapel consists of two side naves and a central nave continued
by the choir, which in turn is ended by a semi-circular apse.
The seated Madonna and Child or Sedes Sapientiae
in the right nave is a wooden polychrome sculpture is dated
back to early 14th century. The tympanum above the entrance
linking the chapel and the annex is a 12th-century representation
of the baptism of Saint Basil. Two
remarkable wooden statues represent Jesus on the Cold Stone
and the Pieta. Both sculptures, made around 1900, are
highly revered and carried each year in the procession of the
Holy Blood.
At the left of the choir, the chapel of Saint Yves was
added in 1504. The relics of Saint Basil and of Charles the
Good, Count of Flanders and who has been assassinated, are kept
here. The black marble retable is presumed to be executed from
drafts of Lancelot Blondeel. | | The
chapel of Saint Basil, the so-called chapel of the Precious
Blood, was used by Count Derrick and his son Philip of Alsace
while residing in the adjacent castle.
The lower chapel supports the upper chapel, originally built
in Romanesque style, underwent in the course of centuries many
significant transformations.
The title of basilica was bestowed to both chapels in 1923.
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The monumental staircase DE STEEGHERE
that leads to the upper chapel was build in 1533 in Renaissance
style ornamented on the outside with statues sculpted according
to the drawings of Lancelot Blondeel. The present building dates from the 19th century since the
original was demolished during the French occupation.
The gilded bronze statues represent Archduchess Isabelle, Mary
of Burgundy, Derrick and Philip of Alsace and, in the medallions,
the Archdukes Albert and Maximilian of Austria, Margaret of
York and Sybil of Anjou, wife of Derrick and mother of Philip
of Alsace.
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