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This church is to be found at the Treurenberg hill on the
edge between lower and upper town. Already at the beginning
of the 11th century a church was situated here. In 1047
the Duke of Brabant, Lambert II, had the relics of Saint
Gudula transferred from the Saint Gorik church in downtown
Brussels to the new church at the Treurenberg hill.
From that moment on the Saint Gudula and Saint Michael
church took the lead over all the other churches in Brussels.
Lambert II also gave the church a chapter of 12 canons .
Because of its growing importance, the first St. Gudula
church originally built in Romanesque style was transformed
in gothic style as from the 13th century. Today, the foundations
of the first church can still be seen under the crypt of
the gothic cathedral.
The gothic choir was constructed between 1226 and 1276,
nave and transept in the middle of the 15th century. The
western facade, completed between 1450 and 1490, follows
the example of the French gothic facades.
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