St. James Church

We also find Spanish traces in the St. Jacob's Church, although they date back to the Middle Ages. “According to legend, Apostle James the Greater was buried in Compostela, making that city a pilgrimage site,” our guide tells us. “The route Sint-Jacobsstraat/Prinsesstraat was once a city wall. The pilgrims who walked from the Netherlands or Scandinavia to Compostela found here a guesthouse dedicated to Saint James. The district chapel, built in 1413, was also dedicated to that saint, just like the later parish church. Even now, pilgrims receive blessings here before they depart for Spain.”

On the front door in Lange Nieuwstraat, you will find a statue of a pilgrim. At the same time, this church is heavily visited for the grave monument of one of the most famous Antwerpians: painter Peter Paul Rubens. The church also possesses a painting as an altarpiece by the hand of Peter Paul Rubens and Jacob Jordaens. The church is under restoration but is partly open to visitors daily between 2 PM and 5 PM.

GVA - Gazet van Antwerpen