St. Amandus' Church

Saint-Amandus Church

On the site of the choir of St. Amandus' Church there used to be a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. In the drawing that Sanderus made of the castle of the lords of Marselaer, we see the chapel in the background. It was founded in 1435 as an auxiliary church of the parish of Malderen by Adriaen Van Marselaer, lord of Opdorp and married to Mathilde Van Assche. On that drawing (see description of the castle) the chapel was depicted relatively large; perhaps a little less long than the Forest Chapel in Buggenhout, but just as high and with a pointed turret in the middle. Around 1600 it was rebuilt in stone by the Van Marselaer family.

When Opdorp became an independent parish in 1732, the chapel was converted into a parish church with a deep choir, a single-aisled nave with four windows on either side and a square tower with a pear-shaped spire.

Because the church had become too small due to population growth, the nave was doubled to 25 m in 1882. The enlargement of the former Lady Chapel was the reason to add the year 1732 to the west façade as a reference to the decree granting permission for the establishment of a new parish.

The tower was completely demolished and rebuilt on the site where it now stands, this time entirely in brick.

Jurgen Vermeulen