Begijnhof church

About

The Begijnhof church is a church in the Belgian city of Mechelen. The church, dedicated to Alexius of Edessa and Catherine of Alexandria, replaced a provisional church that was inaugurated in 1596. The beguines settled on land, donated to them by the alexians after they had originally stayed in the 13th century near the present Begijnenstraat. After 1259 they moved outside the city walls in the triangle between the Oscar van Kesbeeckstraat-Deleidingsdijle-Maurits Sabbestraat. After the religious clouds in the 16th century they returned within the walls of the city, first near the Keizerstraat, later as a permanent residence they gradually moved into the neighbourhood of the present Nonnenstraat. The church can be visited every day, except on Monday, from 1 pm.

Building history of the church: Pieter Huyssens, an engineer-Jesuit, made a number of drawings in 1629 for digging the foundations of the present church. Later, the name of Jacob Francart, a court architect from Brussels appears. The church was completed in 1637. After this, the exterior façade and interior were occupied. The facade that partly in the...