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Key Image Sint-Baafskathedraal
Sint-Baafsplein
9000 Gent
Belgium
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Congregation: Sint-Baafskathedraal
Geogr. Coordinates: 51.05297° N, 3.72707° E
Geo Location
Reference year: 1274
Architectural style: Gothic
Building type: Basilica
Description: Gothic basilica with transept, choir with ambulatory and radiating chapels, and west tower
Name derivation: From St Bavo
Pulpit
  • Rococo pulpit from Carrara marble and Danish oak (Laurent Delvaux, 1741–45)
Organ
  • Old organ mostly built in 1767 by Lambertus Benoit Van Peteghem reusing parts of the original organ, built in 1656 by Pierre Destré and Louis Bis; organ case probably by Boudewijn Van Dickele (18th cent.)
  • New organ built in 1935 for the World Exhibition in Brussels; old and new organ together feature more than 6,000 pips in 90 stops on five manuals
  • Modern organ in the crypt by the Loncke company (1965)
  • Modern organ in the crypt by Patrick Collon (1974)
Windows
  • Stained glass window in memory of the encyclica “Laudato Si” by Pope Francis (Harold van de Perre, 2018)
Noteworthy
  • Retable “Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” (so-called “Ghent Altarpiece”) by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck (inaugurated 1432)
  • Painting “The Conversion of St Bavo“ (Peter Paul Rubens, 1624)
History:
942:   Consecration of the first, mostly wooden predecessor church
Mid- 12th cent.:   Construction of a Romanesque predecessor church
About 1274:   Start of construction of the current Gothic church, stepwise demolition of the Romanesque church
1353:   Completion of the first construction phase (erection of the choir)
About 1430:   Completion of the radiating chapels
1538:   West tower finish (end of second construction phase, started in 1462)
1559:   Building of the nave completes the third and last construction phase; church promoted to cathedral upon creation of the diocese of Gent
2005:   Start of a 15-year restoration campaign, which aims at renovating the whole church in eight phases
07/05/2013:   Restoration of the west tower (to a cost of c. 6.3 mio. €) starts
Important persons:
Patron:  Bavo ((Dutch “Baaf”) c. 590–654, Frankish nobleman (son of Pippin of Landen), later monk and hermit; patron saint of Ghent and other towns)
Dimensions:
Tower Height [m]:  89
Sources
Sint-Baafskathedraal Gent: Der Genter Dom Sankt Bavo (Informationsblatt), Gent
Sint-Baafskathedraal Gent: Building History, https://sintbaafskathedraal.be/en/history/building-history-of-the-cathedral.html, retrieved 30/07/2019
Tourist Office Gent: Genter Altar, in: g – Offizieller Stadtführer zu Europas bestgehütetem Geheimnis, Gent 2018, pp. 54–59
Wikipedia: St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Bavo's_Cathedral,_Ghent, retrieved 30/07/2019
Wikipedia: Sint-Baafskathedraal, https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Baafskathedraal, retrieved 30/07/2019
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