Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Foy

 
Located in a beautiful unspoilt environment on the heights close to Dinant, encircled by a few stone houses, this church owes its founding to the discovery of a statuette of the Virgin Mary in a hollow tree by a woodcutter in 1609. The statue was worshipped. As a result of miracles the place became a pilgrimage site and this church was built in 1623. At this time the development of the cult of the Virgin was part of the Counter Reformation on the initiative of the Jesuits, who encouraged the cult of saints by images in reaction to the austere religion of the Protestants, who communed with God without intermediaries.
The most noteworthy feature of the building is its famous ceiling made of 145 panels of oil paintings depicting scenes from the life of Mary and portraits of saints. This ceiling is the work of the brothers Stilmant of Dinant and the painter, Guillaume Goblet. It was restored in 1935 but now needs another refurbishment. Inside, apart from the celebrated ceiling, is the miraculous statuette on the left of the altar and various paintings including ones of the Virgin and Saint Joseph.
The immediate surroundings of the church are charming with a little graveyard next to it, a small wall encircling the church, a bench for visitors, an inn, a chestnut tree, a fine view.

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