Antonius Abtkerk

The Antonius Abtkerk is a Roman Catholic church in the Dutch town of Schaijk. The church is dedicated to Anthony of Egypt. In 1661 Antonius Abbot is mentioned for the first time as parish saint.

From the 15th century, Schaijk had a chapel dedicated to St. Cornelius and St. Hubertus, which was part of the parish of Herpen. In the course of time, the chapel was expanded into a small church. In 1667 the church of Schaijk became an independent parish church, which was dedicated to St. Anthony Abbot. Due to the location of Schaijk just in the free Land of Ravenstein, many Catholics from outside the Land of Ravenstein came to Schaijk churches. The growth justified the construction of a larger church in 1827, a neoclassical water management church. The existing church was demolished, but the church tower built in Romanesque style was preserved. The condition of this church was not too good, partly due to the reuse of materials from the old church. The church was also found too small at the end of the 19th century, so a new church was built. This was done due to interim lack of money in several phases designed by Petrus Stornebrink. In the years 1894 to 1896 the choir was replaced, in 1901 and 1902 the nave and the existing tower was bricked and raised. In 1907 the renewed church was consecrated by Bishop Wilhelmus van de Ven.

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