Saint-Rictrudis Church

Sint-Rictrudis Church

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Sint-Rictrudis Church

The Sint-Rictrudis Church is the parish church of the place Reninge, which is part of the West Flanders municipality Lo-Reninge, located at Dorpplaats 1a.

History[edit | edit source text]

The parish of Reninge is quite old, likely dating back to the 10th century. The parish, dedicated to Saint Rictrudis, was dependent on the Abbey of Marchiennes. In 1140, the relics of Rictrudis were transferred to Reninge.

The then church was looted in 1597 by the Geuzen, who came from Ostend. From 1598 to 1621, the church was restored, resulting in a three-nave late Gothic hall church. This was shelled by the Germans on March 9, 1915 and was almost completely destroyed. From 1921 to 1923, the church was rebuilt under the architecture of Charles Pil and Henri Carbon.

Building[edit | edit source text]

It is a three-nave brick hall church with a heavy built-in tower and a pseudotranscept. Yellow bricks were used as material, and the base is made of iron sandstone. The square tower is flanked by a square stair turret. On the parapet, there are four corner towers with brick spires.

Interior[edit | edit source text]

The church has a painting by Matthijs De Visch (first half of the 18th century), depicting Our Lady gives the rosary to Saint Dominic. Another 18th-century painting is the: Last Supper. An 18th-century statue in gilded wood is of Saint Eligius. From around 1800 is a Saint Rictrudis, also made of gilded wood.

There are several memorial plaques for the victims of the First and Second World Wars. The church furniture is mainly from the 20th century.

Sources, notes and/or references

Inventory of Immovable Heritage

See the category Rictrude Church (Reninge) at Wikimedia Commons for media files on this topic.

Joris Broché