St. Maternus Basilica
The Basilica of St. Maternus (also called Basilique Notre-Dame de Walcourt) is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage church in Walcourt in the Walloon province of Namur , Belgium . The Church of the Diocese of Namur is dedicated to St. Maternus and has the title of a minor basilica . The Gothic church was built between the 13th and 16th centuries and is part of the Walloon cultural heritage .
history
The first Romanesque church was dedicated to St. Maternus, who evangelized the region in the 4th century. It was built by Oduin, Lord of Walcourt, and consecrated in 1026 by Reginhard , Bishop of Liège. Oduin also financed a chapter with eight canons and made the church a collegiate church .
In 1228 a fire destroyed the collegiate church. It is said that a statue of the Virgin Mary allegedly going back to Maternus was saved, which is why the church was rebuilt and the Cistercian Abbey Le Jardinet was founded on site. The statue of Our Lady of Walcourt has been attracting large numbers of pilgrims since the 13th century . For the support of the Virgin Mary in 1329 during a plague epidemic that devastated the city, the later great Trinity procession was initiated. Even after the pilgrimage was interrupted because of the French revolutionary troops, the numbers rose again in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1907, 40,000 people took part in the Trinity Day procession. Pope Pius XII elevated the Marian shrine to the rank of minor basilica on May 23, 1950.
architecture
The church stands in the middle of the village of Walcourt on a ledge overlooking the confluence of the Eau d'Heure and Yves. On the foundations of the burned down Romanesque church, a five-aisled Gothic church was built, which received its striking spire in the 17th century . The transept from the 14th century divides the nave roughly in the middle into the choir and nave. The church is 53 meters long and 27 meters wide in the transept, the bell tower rises 64 meters. Its spire is flanked by four turrets and has a characteristic spire that is Walcourt's landmark.
Furnishing
The interior has an artistic interior. The magnificent white stone rood screen dates from 1531, 29 niches house statuettes of regional saints and biblical figures; they are of different sizes and styles, and a calvary rises above them. The oak choir stalls were made in the early 16th century. The statue of the Mother of God, carved from linden wood, is Romanesque and dates back to the 10th century. The virgin sits in front and holds the baby Jesus on her knees, who is looking in another direction. Since the 17th century, the two faces have been covered with a silver mask, which has been blackened over time and makes a black Madonna appear. The statue is on the altar of the left transept of the basilica. The church treasures include valuable works of art, in particular a reliquary cross from the 13th century, which is attributed to Hugo d'Oignies or a goldsmith of his school, and a silver statue of the Virgin Mary from the 14th century with a blue sapphire.
literature
- Françoise Josis-Roland: La basilique Notre-Dame de Walcourt. In: Bulletin de la Commission royale des Monuments et des Sites. Commission royale des Monuments et des Sites, 1970, pp. 60-106 , accessed April 24, 2019 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Basilique Saint-Materne on gcatholic.org
- ↑ La basilique Saint-Materne à Walcourt on diocesedenamur.be (French)
Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ′ 5.6 " N , 4 ° 25 ′ 55.3" E