Our Lady's Visitation

The church of Lissewege Our Lady of the Visitation was built from 1225 to 1275 and is a textbook example of the Scheldt Gothic style in the Low Countries. Initially, the construction of a Romanesque church or chapel in fieldstone was started before 1225, on the site where the apse now stands. That fieldstone was reused in the outer walls of the choir. According to legend, the Romanesque church was built on the spot where fishermen from Heist found a statue of Our Lady in a creek, possibly a Nehallenia. The donations of the pilgrims would have been used to pay for the construction of the current church. The Tournai limestone was transported by boat across the Scheldt, the Gentse Lieve, De Reie to reach the village via the Lisseweegs Vaartje. The bakstene - the Bruges moefene - were baked on site from the polder clay in various field ovens.

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