Saints Museum - Lissewege

The Heiligenmuseum is housed in the former rectory in two stylish 17th-century pastel-coloured rooms with a courtyard garden , a peaceful atmosphere and a view of the characteristic whitewashed village church.

A temporary tourist exhibition in 2005 inspired the creation of a permanent museum collection with more than 200 statues from churches and monasteries, made between approximately 1870 and 1930 in the neo-Gothic style, often of wood, plaster, or terracotta and richly painted.

It is the largest collection in Flanders of patron, protective, and healing saints, each with a name tag, explanation, feast day, and characteristic attribute. Many of the statues in the museum were rescued from churches and chapels that were closed or renovated. The curator, Rudy Desmedt, personally restored dozens of them by hand.

Each saint in the museum has his or her own "specialty": Saint Anthony of Padua helps with lost items, Saint Blaise cures sore throats (hence the use of the "Blaise blessing"), Saint Apollonia is invoked for toothaches (often recognizable with pliers and a tooth), and so on. Each statue depicts these attributes, with an explanation. Even the pastel pink wall colors in the exhibition space were chosen to exude tranquility and spirituality —a conscious choice to maintain the sacred character without making it heavily religious.

Willem Vandenameele