Cathédrale Saint-Aubain - Namur

The church has a classical style with Baroque influences and replaced the collegiate church founded in 1047.

It became a cathedral in 1559 after the creation of the diocese of Namur by Philip II. Destroyed in 1740 by a great flood of the Sambre, it was rebuilt between 1751 and 1767 in its current form, with a double-beam cross that reminds us that the cathedral contains fragments of the real cross and thorns of Christ , brought back from Constantinople in 1206.

The structure consists of bringing together the tower built in 1648, the only surviving part of the old collegiate church, and the parish church of Saint-Jean the Evangelist into a single structure topped by a large dome that caused some problems.

The facade , made of Seilles limestone, collapsed in the 19th century and was completely rebuilt shortly before 1900, in a more austere manner.

The facade is decorated with twenty Corinthian columns and crowned in the central part with a round pediment pierced with an oculus. The facade is topped by five statues, representing Jesus and four of his apostles .

Inside, a classical two-storey elevation on linked columns, stucco work by the Moretti brothers, church furniture (altars, pulpit, confessionals, choir screens, baptismal font, lecterns), statues and paintings from that period give the building all its cachet.

The origins of the organ go back to the years 1844 to 1849, as does the monumental case , built by organ builder Wilhelm Korfmacher and preserved; the instrument contained approximately 50 stops on three manuals and a pedal. It was renovated several times over the years and completely rebuilt in the years 1964-1968. It now has 60 games spread across four manual keyboards and pedal.

Willem Vandenameele