Saint Anthony of Abbot Church

* Church of St. Anthony the Abbot. Oriented cross-shaped church, located in the middle of a square, bordered by plane trees. Calvary under a gabled roof on the southern transept and a monument depicting the Sacred Heart of Christ in honor of the victims of both world wars on the southern facade. Originally a Romanesque church from the first half of the 13th century, with preserved choir, crossing tower, and transept, protected as a monument by Royal Decree of 20.02.1939. The entire church is protected as a monument by Royal Decree of 18.01.1974. 1200-1225: construction of the choir and the transept. 1225-1250: construction of the central tower, of which the base and the crossing have been preserved. 1590-1593: restoration work on the roof, tower, and interior carried out after damages inflicted by the Sea Beggars. 1623-1627: reconstruction of the octagonal bell tower in white stone after a fire. 1786-1793: demolition and reconstruction of the nave. 1872: restoration of the upper section of the tower. 1884: removal and reconstruction of the white stone bell storey. 1903-1906: after a fire, the nave was demolished and replaced by a neo-Romanesque nave built on the foundations of the old one, also a thorough restoration. Reconstruction of the tower to its old model. 1965: evacuation of the cemetery and renewal of the village center. The current floor plan reveals a three-aisled nave of five bays with an adjoining choir section with a flat closing, transept with straight closing. Original crossing tower from the 13th century. Church building constructed in Tournai stone. Nave, transept, and choir under slate gabled roofs, side aisles under lean-to roofs. Semi-circular baptistery with slate spire. Nave with truncated west façade featuring a central round-arched portal door with columns, flanked by cut buttresses on either side. Second section characterized by three-light windows. Adjacent seven-part baptistery with round-arched wall openings. Nave, transept, and choir rhythmically supported by cut buttresses with buttresses placed against each other at the corners and round-arched wall openings. Crossing tower with a square base, octagonal tower with a slate spire topped by a cross and weathervane. Bell openings in round-arched wall openings. Interior. Cross-shaped church with plastered walls, rhythmically accented by natural stone round-arched arcade arches on natural stone columns with octagonal bases and knobbed capitals. Natural stone pointed arch serving as a transition to the choir above which there is neo-Gothic painting by H.L. Van Biervliet depicting Christ on the cross. Nave, transept, and choir covered with wooden barrel vaults with planks, tension beams on wooden consoles. Crossing with brick ribbed vault with granite ribs, round opening with planks. Baptistery with brick ribbed vault. Furniture: Altar. Neo-Romanesque marble altar table with painted representations of the apostles Peter, Simon, James, Judas, Thaddeus, and Paul in the niches. Neo-Romanesque baptismal font in black marble with a cover in yellow copper. Oak pulpit in neo-Romanesque style with representations of Moses with the tablets of the law, King David psalmist, Saint Matthew evangelist, and Saint Mark evangelist in the niches of the pulpit. Paintings: preaching of John and Baptism of Jesus (17th century) on panel and pieta with John (17th century) on canvas.

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