Notre-Dame de la Chapelle/Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ter Kapelle

(Church) (Place de la Chapelle)

   The church of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, located at the north end of rue Haute, occupies the site of a chapel built outside the first town wall by Godfrey I, duke of Brabant, in 1134. It was made a parish church in 1210 and became a center of Marian devotion in the Middle Ages. In 1250, Duke Henry III gave the church five pieces reputedly from the cross of the Crucifixion. Originally of Romanesque design, the nave was rebuilt in 1421 following a fire in 1405. The church was consecrated in 1434. The transept was constructed in a transitional style midway between Romanesque and Gothic, and it is Gothic that marks the church's major architectural style. The aisles within the church were built in the mid-15th century and the main tower dates from the early 16th century. It was used as a Reformed church by the Calvinists from 1579 to 1585. Parts of the structure were destroyed in the bombardment of 1695. The baroque bell tower was built by Antoine Pastorana as an addition to the church during the reconstruction as the tower above the transept had been razed. The church was closed in 1797 during the French regime. It was reopened as a parish church in 1803. The building has been extensively renovated. Pieter Bruegel married Mayken Coecke here in 1563.