St. Stephen's Church

St. Stephen's Parish Church

Oriented longitudinal cross church in classicist style, built in the period 1754-1758 at the expense of the abbey of Affligem. To date surrounded by a partly preserved, walled cemetery, disused since 1929 and transferred to the Kouter. In front of the church on the left is the funerary monument of Pastor de Munter (1845-1920) with an incorporated commemorative plaque in the west façade of the church, which was placed in 1923, following the correspondence of the K.C.M.L.; on the right is the monument to the fallen of the First World War; Some headstones were preserved throughout the cemetery. The church was protected as a monument by royal decree of 25/10/1950 and is also part of the protected village view of Mollem (Decree of 10 January 1980). As early as 1126, Bishop Burchard donated the altar of Mollem to the abbey of Affligem in Hekelgem, which retained the right of patronage until the end of the ancien regime. From this it can be deduced that the capella of Mollem was already an independent parish in 1126, but further details about the correct period of origin are not known; J. Verbesselt has it as a villa church rise to the eighth century; J. Ockeley, on the other hand, opts for its creation as a vicus church, since it is not located in the immediate vicinity of a court.

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