Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Goede Bijstandkerk

The church is located at the Kolenmarkt, with a side wall at the Olivetenhof, in the so-called Sint-Jacobswijk. At this place near the Overmolenpoort or St. Jacob's Gate the twelfth century the St. Jacobs Hospital was located, which offered shelter to needy travelers and pilgrims to Santiago de Compostella. At the end of the 16th century, pilgrimages became less popular as a result of the religious troubles and the uprising in the Netherlands. Jacob Meeus, the principal of the hospital, tried to increase visitor numbers in 1625 by introducing a Marian worship. Central to this worship was a fourteenth-century wooden statue of Our Lady, to which miraculous powers were quickly ascribed. Partly thanks to the support of Archduchess Isabella, devotion became a success. The chapel of the Sint-Jacobs hospital was soon too small, and in 1664 the board decided to set up a new place of residence.

Construction took 30 years. The plans were drawn by architect Jan Cortvrindt. After his death in 1681 the works were continued by Pieter Paul Merckx. After his death in 1685, the project was continued by Willem De Bruyn and ended in 1694. Barely a year later, the church was damaged by the bombing of Brussels: the roofs, dome, plastering and furniture were destroyed, and had to be repaired afterwards.

The church was closed by the French Revolution in 1797. In 1803 it was reopened, initially as an auxiliary church of the Sainte Catherine Parish. The bell tower, after a design by Hendrik Partoes from 1850, replaced an older man who had been removed in 1727. From 1904 the façade was restored and in the façade shell motifs refer to Saint James.

Camino