"St Bavo's Cathedral"

The cathedral stands on the site of the former wooden Chapel of St. John the Baptist builtin 842.  Construction of the Gothic church began around 1274 and from the 14th through the 16th centuries the building was expanded.  This Catholic church and many others in the Netherlands were vandalized by bands of Calvinist iconoclasts.  Stained-glass windows were shattered,  statues were smashed, and paintings and other artworks they perceived as idolatrous were destroyed.  However, the altarpiece by the Van Eycks was saved. 

The cathedral is noted for the Ghent Altarpiece. It is formally known as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb after its lower center panel by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. This work is considered Van Eyck's masterpiece and one of the most important works of the early Northern Renaissance, as well as one of the greatest artistic masterpieces of Belgium. Part of the painting, the lowermost left panel known as The Just Judges, was stolen in 1934 and has not been recovered. It has since been replaced with a facsimile by Jef Van der Veken.