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One of the best examples is the main church of the city, namely St. Salvator's Cathedral. This church was not built to become the cathedral of the city. It rose to this status only in the 19th century. At the beginning St. Salvator's was only a parish church. The main religious building in the city was the St. Donatius church which was situated right in the heart of Bruges, opposite the town hall. At the end of the 18th century French occupants of Bruges chased away the bishop of the city and demolished the St. Donatius church, seat of the bishop. In 1834, after the Belgian independence in 1830, a new bishop was installed in Bruges and the St. Salvator's church was promoted to the status of cathedral. However, the building itself was not very cathedral-like. It was actually much smaller and much less impressive than the nearby church of Our Lady. Hence, St. Salvator's had to be adapted to its new status
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Western Europe
