St. Bavo’s Cathedral

Standing on the eastern side of Sint-Baafsplein, the St. Bavo’s Cathedral is a tall majestic structure, constructed in 942 and expanded in the Romanesque style in 1038. Renovations and restorations through the 14th and 16th century led to the cathedral finally looking like what it does today. St. Bavo’s Cathedral houses an impressive number of art treasures: the baroque high altar in white, black and red flamed marble, the rococo pulpit in oak, gilded wood and marble, a major work by Rubens, the ‘Calvary Triptych’, attributed to Joos van Wassenhove, alias Justus van Gent, tombs of the Ghent bishops, and much more. However, one work stands out head and shoulders above the rest: the world-famous Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck around 1432. The other famous artworks the cathedral walls adorn are The Conversion of St. Baaf by Peter Paul Rubens (1624) and Christ among the Doctors by Frans Pourbus (1571).