The buildings of Notre Dame, with the well-known Gruthuise Mansion
which adjoins them, and the singularly graceful spire, higher than
the Belfry tower, rising from the exquisite portico called 'Het
Paradijs,' form a very beautiful group; but, with this exception,
there is nothing remarkable about the churches of Bruges. One of
them, however, has a peculiar interest--the Chapelle du Saint-Sang,
which stands in the Place du Bourg in the corner next to the Hotel
de Ville. It is built in two stories. The lower, a dark, solemn
chapel, like a crypt, was dedicated to St. Basil at an early period,
and is one of the oldest buildings in Bruges. The greater part
of the upper story does not date further back than the fifteenth
century. But it is not the fabric itself, venerable though that is,
but what it contains, that makes this place the Holy of Holies in
the religious life of Bruges; for here, in a costly shrine of gold
and silver adorned with precious stones, they guard the wonderful
relic which was brought from Palestine in the time of the Crusaders
by Thierry d'Alsace, Count of Flanders, and which is still worshipped
by thousands of devout believers every year.
Thierry d'Alsace, the old chroniclers tell us, visited the Holy
Land four times, and was the leader of the Flemish warriors who,
roused by the eloquence of St.
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