Collegiate Saints-Pierre-et-Paul - Chimay

It was probably in the mid-10th century that the lord of Chimay founded a canon chapter that would become the Collégiale de Chimay, one of the most beautiful religious buildings in the province of Hainaut.

The plan of the church consists of a central nave with five bays, flanked by narrower side aisles with an equal number of chapels opening between the buttresses. The choir (1250), with a flat apse and four bays, is based on the architecture used in the Laonnais and Soissonnais region. The rest of the building is in the austere Hennuyer Gothic style (15th century).

In the choir you can still see a colored marble high altar, a late 15th century taulet and the funeral slabs of the last two princely families. Among the works of art in the church, the large cross that is hung in the center stands out. It is a polychromed wood sculpture from the 16th century . A 17th-century painting hangs in the Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel. The organ of the company Pierre Schyven & Cie dates from 1896.

The beautiful mausoleum of Charles de Croÿ , godfather of Charles V, 1st Prince of Chimay (died 1527) is decorated with a beautiful alabaster lounger.

The spherical bell tower, built between 1732 and 1742, houses a unique carillon. It is a real bell piano with a small keyboard, unique because it does not have an E flat. It has a total of 26 bells, the oldest of which dates from the 17th century.

Willem Vandenameele