St. Anne's Church Aldeneik

Saint Anne is a mysterious figure, about whom nothing is known historically, not even in the Bible. However, according to the legends that have been handed down, she is the mother of Mary.
She was married to Joachim and together they had
begged God for a long time to have a child. The years passed, and for a long time the couple remained childless.
One evening, after a conflict with the high priest, an angel appeared to both Joachim and Anna and announced that they were going to have a child: a girl, whom they were to name Mary and give to God.
They met at the Golden Gate, the meeting that was considered the moment when Anna became pregnant with Mary. This legend is now remembered, among other places, in St. Anne's Church in Aldeneik, a small village that has had an important ecclesiastical community since the 700s.
St. Anne's Church was built in the second half of the twelfth century, at that time as a monastery church and without reference to St. Anne. The church was one of 'the three minsters in the Maasgouw': Aldeneik, Susteren and Odiliënberg.
From the eighteenth century onwards, the church took Saint Anne, the mother of Mary, as its patron saint. In the church there is a beautiful statue of St. Anne's Trinity by Jan van Steffenswert.

Tourist Board South Limburg (Visit Zuid-Limburg)