SIGHTSEEING
Cathedral Tower
The Cathedral
Town Hall
Monuments
Churches
Museums
Tourist Attractions
Opsinjoorke Doll
Breendonk Concentration Camp
Restaurants

EXTERNAL LINKS
Hotels
Trains

Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

On the corner of the 'Veemarkt' (cattle market) is the baroque church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The foundations of this  church were laid in 1669 by order of the Jesuits. It was designed by the Jesuit-architect Losson and built from 1670 to 1677.The facade with its enormous pillars expresses how important the look of a religious building was for the Jesuits. The upper part of the facade crowned with a aureole and the sign of the order of the Jesuits (IHS = Jesus Homines Salvator) was added in 1709.  It contains a rich collection of paintings from the 17th century (Quellien, Franchoys, Coxie, and other painters), breathtaking oak paneling with fourteen confessionals and a magnificent pulpit made by the sculptor Verbruggen around 1700.

Church of Saint John

This church was built in the 15th century. It boasts Rubens' magnificent triptych 'The adoration of the Magi', one of the most beautiful paintings of Belgium. which Peter Paul Rubens painted in 1619. After his return from Italy, he bought a house in Antwerp and married  his first wife Isabella Brant in 1609. It is believed that the Madonna figure in the painting has the face of Isabella. The St. John's church also has a beautiful collection of wood sculptures like benches and a pulpit (1736).

 (no fixed opening hours).

Basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk

The original 10th-century church was demolished for military reasons in 1578. The present domed baroque church is one of the most beautiful constructions of the master of the Flemish Baroque  Lucas Fayd'herbe.

The church was built between 1663 and 1681. The interior decoration is dominated by the grandiose dome with the relief decorations made by Fayd'herbe himself. These decorations represent the Birth and the Carrying of the Cross.  and houses the polychrome statue of the Virgin Mary that is carried in the 'Hanswijk' procession.
 

Main Beguinage

The 'Acht Zalighedenstraat', the 'Hoviusstraat', 'Fonteinstraat', 'Conventstraat' and the 'Jezuspoort' allow you to take in the atmosphere of the once thriving beguinage. Near the end of the 18th century, the Prioress of the benuines lived in the corner house to the left of the 17th-century Beguinage Church

© All texts and pictures Copyright Trabel.com and Arakea.com.
Their use is not permitted without prior agreement.
Design by The Manta