St. Paul's Chapel

The hamlet of Saint Paul owes its name to the chapel Saint Paul. The Sint-Pauluskapel is located on the Kapelleblok, north of and close to the Pauwelhoeve. It was built on a site, which was already inhabited in the Gallo-Roman period. There appears to be no connection between the villa that was probably located there and the late medieval chapel, which was probably built in the early 16th century. It is a brick building in late Gothic style. In the chapel, among other things, some 15th-century art objects are kept.

For centuries, the following three origin legends were popularly assumed:
St. Paul's Chapel would have been an independent parish with its own priest, its own cemetery and its own income
The St. Paul's Chapel is said to be a remnant of a small monastery, dependent on the St. Adrian's Abbey in Geraardsbergen or the Abbey of Beaupré in Grimminge
St. Paul's Chapel would have been a chapel for lepers and the hamlet would have been created as a result of a colony of lepers or field souls.
Whatever the vernacular assumes... we can say with certainty that the St. Paul's Chapel already existed before the year 1068. The chapel is connected to a miraculous spring, a sacred place for our ancestors. Perhaps the origin of the St. Paul's Chapel should be situated in the time of the final evangelization and Christianization of our regions (ca. 800 AD).

The chapel was completely restored. In January 2002, the renovated chapel was officially opened. The chapel is also classified.

est2000