Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church, Mons, Belgium

Saint Waltrude Collegiate Church dates back to 1450, and the origin of the famous chapter of noble canonesses that seated for centuries inside this church. The chapter played an important part in the local history, all of the Canonesse were familymembers of important noble houses. Antoine-Joseph Fetis, titular organist, taught his eldest son François-Joseph the first steps of the practice of organ music.

Inside the church important graves can be found amongst them Antoine de Carondelet and Alice of Namur.

The exterior of the church is a fine example of Brabant Gothic architecture, parts are built by Matheus de Layens. However in the 17th century the works stopped and the building was never completely finished. The interior contains important artworks, including sculptures by Jacques du Broeucq and paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Floris de Vriendt, Theodoor van Thulden, Otto Venius and Michiel Coxie.

References:

Wikipedia

Religious sites in Belgium

User Reviews

adrian frie (2 years ago)
It's nice place to see.

kchall hall (2 years ago)
Such a beautiful building to walk around, the grounds here are well maintained as well.

Rodrigo Wiederkehr (2 years ago)
Nice church with an impressive pipe organ

Tim Lawrence (2 years ago)
Free to tour, bathroom in the back. Kids enjoyed the art and getting out of the rain. Very big and interesting cathedral!

Gerard Seghers (2 years ago)
Magnificent gothique church with excellent audio guide in English you can download on your phone...

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Photo from Flickr, copyright caminanteK

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Since 1930, the castle has housed the collections of the Ariège départemental museum. Sections on prehistory, Gallo-Roman and mediaeval archaeology tell the history of Ariège from ancient times. Currently, the museum is rearranging exhibits to concentrate on the history of the castle site so as to recreate the life of Foix at the time of the Counts.

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