Bascilica of the Holy Blood

OK, more Bruges (with more to come). One of my favorite spots was the Basilica of the Holy Blood (Basiliek van het Heilig-Bloed) which is located in the Burg (one of the two fraternal twin squares, along with the Markt, at the heart of Bruges - the Markt is much bigger but I think I actually like the Burg better). It took a little effort to finally get in here. My first attempt at a visit was during morning mass (I was in Burges on Sunday 4 July) so I decided to return - and when I returned it was closed for a midday break. As with most things, ice cream was the answer, and after a break I returned at 2:00, and was really glad I did. Not only is it a lovely Romanesque church with a touch of Gothic thrown in, but it's also famous, as the name would suggest, for a very famous holy relic - a fragment of cloth, embedded in a rock-crystal vial inside a glass cylinder, that is supposed to be stained with the blood of Jesus - wiped from the body after the crucifixion by Joseph of Arimathea. Yes, and I know that there are enough piedes of the "true cross" floating around to construct the "true Ark," but I find these things cool and meaningful nevertheless. What really pushed this over the top was that it was out on display today. It was behind an altar, and you could walk up, leave a donation, touch the vial, and meditate - many people actually kissed it. I paid my 2 euro, laid my hands on it for a couple moments, closed my eyes and meditated - don't know if I found God or reached an existential epiphany, but it was a unique experience that I would have kicked myself for not doing it. Anyway, the older I get I increasingly have deeply moving experiences in churches, so maybe I am moving towards some greater spiritual awakening. The bottom picture, from a respectful distance, is of the area where you could touch the holy relic.