Marienkirche (Brussels)
The Marienkirche ( ndl. Koninklijke Sint-Mariakerk , French Église royale Sainte-Marie ) is a church in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital in Belgium and is located in the municipality of Schaerbeek / Schaarbeek , at the end of the Koningsstraat / Rue Royale and on Place de la Reine / Koninginneplein .
The church in the Romanesque-Byzantine style was built in 1853 inaugurated and has since 9. November 1976 under monument protection .
Planning and construction
The current parish was founded in 1839 and announced a competition to build a church, which the architect Louis Van Overstraeten (1818–1849) from Ghent won on September 16, 1844 . When he died on July 26, 1849 at the age of 31 as a result of a cholera epidemic, Gustave Hansotte (1827-1886) took over his job. The plan envisaged a church building in the Romanesque-Byzantine style with a central octagonal floor plan, which was surrounded by side chapels. The whole was crowned with domed columns. The weight of the dome has been reduced through the use of metal and lightweight coating materials. The light enters the church through a belt of windows at the height of the cornice. Van Overstraeten also added air arches to reinforce the structure.
history
On August 15, 1853 , although the construction was not yet completed - the dome will not be completed until 1880 - the church was consecrated and dedicated to Queen Louise Marie , who had died three years earlier . In the French or Dutch language, it is therefore also referred to as royale or koninklijk . In 1966 it was decided to close the church for security reasons, from then on services were held in the crypt under the choir. In 1972 a non-profit association was founded with the aim of maintaining the church building. Restoration work began in 1982 and the church was reopened in 1996. In 2003 a new heating system was put into operation.
Furnishing
The organ was built in 1907 by the Brussels organ builder Jean-Emile Kerkhoff (1859–1921). The windows are by the glass painter Jean-Baptiste Capronnier . The main altar depicts the life of Mary in gold-plated brass .
Special
On December 1, 1924, the funeral mass for the composer Giacomo Puccini , who had died two days earlier in Brussels, took place here, and in 1983 the funeral service for the Brussels chansonnière Simone Max (1903–1983) took place here.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 33 ″ N , 4 ° 22 ′ 7 ″ E