Heilig Hartkerk (Brugge)

About

The Sacred Heart Church is a former Jesuit church in Bruges. The church was demolished in 1990 and was then used as a party hall. In 2022, a Romanian evangelical community moved into the church.

History: After the Jesuits had vanished from Bruges in 1773 following the lifting of their order, they re-established in 1840. In 1869 they moved into an existing house with large garden in the Korte Winkel. They then bought several houses and gardens within the house block Vlamingstraat, Spanjaardstraat, Kipstraat and Korte Winkel, in order to have enough space for building a relatively large church, which was connected to the residence. From 1879 to 1885 the church was built, with facade on the Vlamingstraat. Originally, architect Jean Bethune would have been commissioned to design this church, but for reasons not to be found, the assignment was entrusted to the Bruges architect Louis Pavot, one of the main representatives, alongside Bethune, of the neo-gothic spirit. The bishop of Bruges, Johan Joseph Faict, laid the first stone in October 1880 and on 29 July 1885 he dedicated...