Milan Chapel

About

The Milan Chapel is a chapel in the West Flemish municipality of Zwegem, in the corresponding hamlet of Kreupel, located on the Bellegemstraat. The present neo-Gothic chapel is a design by the architect Jean-Baptiste Bethune (1821-1894). Bethune was a total architect: He not only designed the building, but also the glass windows and the murals. The name would come from a legend in which lost pilgrims from Milan had brought a miraculous statue of Mary.

History: First references of the ancient chapel go back to 1550 when it was owned by the family of Halewijn. The chapel was first mentioned on a map in 1691 as Milanne Capelle. In 1840 the family De Bethune inherited the former glory Ten Kasteele in Zwegem, with among others the chapel, which then was like a ruin. That is why the -very Catholic- Felix Bethune wanted the chapel completely rebuilt. It was his son Jean-Baptiste Bethune who was appointed architect to design the chapel neo-Gothic style in English. This took place from 1846-1847. It was the first work of Bethune in this style and thus one of the first neo-Gothic...