The Holy Savior Cathedral (Sint-Salvatorskathedraal) was not originally built to be a cathedral - it obtained that status only in the 19th century. When Sint-Salvator was founded in the 10th century, it was just a common parish church.At that time, the Sint-Donatius Church, which is located at the very heart of Bruges opposite of the town hall, was the most important religious building of the city. At the end of the 18th century, the French inhabitants of Bruges threw out the bishop and destroyed the Sint-Donatius Church, his residence.
In 1834, shortly after Belgium's independence in 1830, a new bishop was installed in Bruges and the Sint-Salvator church obtained the status of cathedral. However, the building didn't really look like a cathedral