Saint-Nicholas/Sint-Nikolaas

(Church) (Rue de Tabora/Petite Rue au Beurre)

   The exact date of the founding of the church of Saint-Nicholas is not known. It is first mentioned in documents dating from the second half of the 12th century. The church has existed from the early days of the city's development, established near the Grand' Place by the merchants of Brussels and dedicated to Saint Nicholas, one of their patron saints. It acquired considerable fame in sheltering a statue of the madonna—Notre-Dame de la Paix—be-lieved to dispense miraculous powers. The original Romanesque church was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 14th-15th centuries and rebuilt again following its destruction during the wars of religion.

   The church was once again almost completely demolished during the bombardment of 1695. A cannonball struck an interior pillar where it remained embedded, and the badly damaged bell tower collapsed completely in 1714. Plans to rebuild the church as an exact replica of the old were never carried out; however, in 1956 the west front was given a new Gothic-style façade.

   Works of art decorating the church include Christ among the Scribes by Jan van Orley in the north aisle and, opposite the entrance, a small painting The Virgin and Sleeping Child reputedly by Peter Paul Rubens.

   See also Parishes.