St-Pieterskerk

The building of St-Pieterskerk (St Peter’s Church) commenced in the 1420s and continued for 200 years.

The nave and aisles were completed first, but when the twin towers of the western facade were finally added in 1507, the foundations proved inadequate and it soon began to sink. With money in short supply, it was decided to remove the top sections of the towers – hence the truncated versions of today.

Inside the church, the sweeping lines of the nave are intercepted by an impressive 1499 rood screen and Baroque wooden pulpit depicting the conversion of St Norbert. Norbert was a wealthy but irreligious German noble, who was hit by lightening while riding. His horse died, but he was unhurt and this led him to devote himself to the church.*

St-Pieterskerk

The church was severely damaged in both world wars. In 1914 the roof was burned off and in 1944 the north transept was bombed.  The church is currently undergoing repair work and part of it shrouded in scaffolding and inaccessible.

St-Pieterskerk

St-Pieterskerk

St-Pieterskerk

St-Pieterskerk

*From the Eyewitness Travel Guide to Belgium and Luxembourg

6 Comments CherryPie on Aug 18th 2015

6 Responses to “St-Pieterskerk”

  1. ....peter:) says:

    Considering all of its damages from the wars it is still very beautiful Cherie… i kind of like the truncated tower…
    this is a great presentation of St. Peter’s Church in Belgium…
    i like its name….peter:)

    • CherryPie says:

      It is a amazing that it is still standing, when so many buildings were destroyed by WWII in particular.

      I would have loved to be able to see the part that was partitioned off. The photo before the last one was taken through the gaps in the barrier :-)

  2. lisl says:

    An ongoing task with a building of this size and age (and previous damage)

  3. Very typical Belgian church look. ;)