Church of Our Lady

The Church of Our Lady is one of the tallest structures in Bruges, its 115-metre brick tower a landmark visible for miles across the flat Flemish countryside. The church has been built and extended over four centuries, and the interior reflects this history — a Gothic nave of considerable height flanked by chapels accumulated over generations. In the choir is a pair of remarkable painted terracotta tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter Mary of Burgundy, both outstanding examples of late medieval funerary art.

The Michelangelo Madonna in the south transept is the principal reason most visitors stop here. Entry to the nave is free; the choir and treasury containing the tombs and the Madonna require a ticket.

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A story
The church contains a small marble statue of the Madonna and Child by Michelangelo — the only work he is known to have sent outside Italy during his lifetime. He sold it to a Bruges merchant in 1506, at a time when his reputation in Italy was already established. Tucked in a side chapel, it is easy to walk past; it receives none of the crowds of the David in Florence, and you can stand in front of it in near silence.