iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Dr James Alexander Cameron @drjacameron.stainedglassattitudes.com · 02/02/2026

does seem tbh it wasn't that big even compared to the other churches in Bruges, including the current church that serves as cathedral, St Salvator, since the diocese was revived in 1834.

View with Sint-Donaaskerk bottom left, Belfort and Grote Mark middle, top the Church of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk) and right the current cathedral of St Salvator - the tower was heightened in the 1840s and 70s

Sint-Donaaskerk (Cathedral) from N in 1641 (nave, L; Romanesque east arm, R), 18thc hand-coloured print

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Dr James Alexander Cameron @drjacameron.stainedglassattitudes.com · 02/02/2026

over the east arm of the former Cathedral is now the Crowne Plaza Hotel, built 1991-2. Not really sure what was there before. Not much comparing to this early 20thc postcard?

View of the Grote Markt with the Burg in the background, here I have the trees of Burg Square and the Crowne Plaza Hotel turned on, and the massing of the Sint-Donaaskerk is transparent

Early 20thc postcard. same angle. you can see an electric tram and horse-drawn carriages

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Dr James Alexander Cameron @drjacameron.stainedglassattitudes.com · 02/02/2026

seems you used to be able to just go to the new-build hotel and see the remains of the both the Carolingian rotunda and cathedral E arm from the 1955-6 and 1987-9 excavations respectively, but they cracked down on it and you can only go in with official city guides. boo archive.md/yxebZ

screenshot of page translated from Dutch to English. Three men in suits standing in front of wall core (not sure what it is, I'm trying to understand the ruins with very limited info).

Text translated: "From now on, you will only discover these ‘hidden pearl’ in Bruges with a recognized guide: “Some visitors even stole stones from the wall”
From now on, you can only visit the ruins of the St. Donaas Church in Bruges, under the Crowne Plaza hotel on the Burg, with one of the three recognized guide associations. Until recently, interested parties walked into and outside the hotel to discover this hidden pearl. “But things were really going well, says hotel manager Lucas Bakx.
Bart Huysentruyt 20-04-23, 18:28 Last update: 4/20/23, 6:42 PM"

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