Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg/Sint-Jakob-op-de-Koudenberg

(Church) (Place Royale)

   Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg began as the chapel in service to the sovereigns of Brabant when in residence at the Coudenberg Palace. It dates from between 1047 and 1121. The name derives from its use by pilgrims who stopped here on their way to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Charles of Lorraine had the church demolished and the new edifice was sited in line with rue Montagne de la Cour to ensure the symmetry of the place Royale. He laid the cornerstone in 1776. The west façade was designed by French architects Barnabé Guimard and Nicolas Barré in the late 1780s and the building was erected by Louis-Joseph Montoyer. In 1849, Tilman-François Suys endowed it with a new attic and campanile. It was transformed into a Temple of Reason during the French regime. On 21 July 1831, Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha took the oath as Leopold I, king of the Belgians, on the steps leading up to the peristyle of the church.

   See also Parishes.