Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes (Ghent)

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Entrance facade of the basilica
Main nave with chancel

The Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes ( Dutch Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Lourdesbasiliek ) is a Roman Catholic church in the village of Oostacker in the city of Ghent in the Belgian province of East Flanders . The pilgrimage church of the diocese of Ghent is consecrated as the Lourdes Church invoking the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and bears the title of a minor basilica .

history

The place of pilgrimage goes back to a Lourdes grotto in the garden of Slotendries Castle, which the Marquess de Courtebourne-de Nédonchel had built in 1873. After the inauguration of the statue in the cave on June 29, 1873, residents and residents of Ghent asked to visit and pray there. A year later, Pieter De Rudder was miraculously healed there with an open fracture. Because of this healing, there has been a great influx of believers. To receive the pilgrims, a church was built in 1876. It was consecrated in 1877 by the Bishop of Ghent, Hendrik Frans Bracq, and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the pilgrimage site in 1924 by Pope Pius XI. raised to the minor basilica.

architecture

The three-aisled basilica was built in the neo-Gothic style according to the plans of the architect E. Van Hoecke-Peeters with a slight adaptation by the architect Jean-Baptiste Bethune . The side aisles were divided into chapels. The entrance area was designed as a two-tower facade , the choir has just been completed without an apse. The neo-Gothic church furnishings were also designed by Bethune. Above the main altar, a reredos shows three caves: the grotto of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the grotto of the resurrection of Jesus and that of Lourdes. St. Alfons of Liguori is depicted on one of the stained glass windows above the high hall. In one of the two towers there is a carillon with 49 bells, which was cast by the Michiels bell foundry in 1954. However, the keyboard was temporarily removed during a restoration in 1978 and has not yet been replaced.

Web links

Commons : Lourdes Basilica  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Lourdesbasiliek on gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ s: en: Shrine of Oostacker

Coordinates: 51 ° 4 ′ 57 "  N , 3 ° 45 ′ 47"  E