BGM: Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

Place Sainte-Gudule / Sinter-Goedeleplein, Brussels, Belgium
Mon-Fri: 7.00am - 6.00pm
Sat: 8.00am - 5.00pm
Sun: 1.00pm - 6.00pm

Yet another place of worship that my BFF and I visited is a Roman Catholic church that was elevated to a cathedral in 1962. It took approximately 300 years for the Gothic style building to be completed, eventually ready before the reign of Charles V commenced in 1519.

It's located near Gare Centrale and Parc metro stations.

The exterior length of the cathedral is 114 m.

Outside the building, there's a statue of D. J. Mercier, a Belgian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who's noted for his staunch resistance to the German occupation during World War I.

Together with St. Rumbold's Cathedral in Mechelen, a city in the province of Antwerp, Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula serves the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels.

The building was erected using stones from Gobertange quarry, which is 45 km away from the site.

The big organ was inaugurated in October 2000.

I can never get enough of stained glass windows.

There's a plethora of statues and other interesting objects inside the cathedral.

Station 5: Jesus was helped by Simon of Cyrene

In the New Testament, St. Michael the Archangel defeats Satan during the war in heaven.

The base of the 17th century pulpit represents Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden of Eden.
The Virgin and Child piercing the serpent at the top symbolises redemption.

Pro patria is a Latin phrase for 'for one's country'.

Should you wish to take a look at the collections inside the treasury, you need to pay €2.00 (~S$3.15). As we were running on a rather tight schedule, we decided not to go in.

Besides that, there's a crypt that can be entered via a turnstile for €1.00 (~S$1.55). 

Don't forget to check out the gift shop or perhaps get yourself a souvenir coin.

The cathedral is often used for Catholic ceremonies of national interest. One notable example is the royal wedding of Prince Philippe and and Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1999.