St. Pierre Cathedral

There is a most remarkable cathedral, St. Pierre, opposite the Town Hall, dating from the fifteenth century, which it is said suffered severely in a great gale in 1604, which blew down its spire and many of its statues. It has never been restored, and its huge doorways, its high exterior balconies, its narrow pierced windows, evidently for bowmen, all render it in appearance a vast mediæval fortress, which it undoubtedly was. Its interior is as remarkable, and contains many altars, statues, tombs, and in its nine chapels are great paintings, notably one by Dierick Bouts, "The Martyrdom of St. Erasmus."