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Sint Pieter (Löwen) . . .

Die Kirche Sint Pieter (niederländisch: Collegiale Sint-Pieterskerk) in Löwen, Belgien, ist eine kreuzförmige Kirche im Stil der Brabanter Gotik. Sie liegt am Grote Markt, gegenüber dem Rathaus.

 

 

Saint Peter's Church (Dutch: Sint-Pieterskerk) in Leuven, Belgium, is a Roman Catholic church built in the 15th century in the Brabantine Gothic style. The church has a cruciform floor plan and a low bell tower that has never been completed. It is 93 metres (305 ft) long. It is located on the city's Grote Markt (main square), opposite the Town Hall. In 1999, the belfry and bell tower of the church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of the civil importance and architecture of the belfries in the region.

 

 

The first church on the site, made of wood and presumably founded in 986, burned down in 1176. It was replaced by a Romanesque church, made of stone, featuring a West End flanked by two round towers like at Our Lady's Basilica in Maastricht. Of the Romanesque building only part of the crypt remains, underneath the chancel of the actual church.

 

Construction of the present Gothic edifice, significantly larger than its predecessor, was begun approximately in 1425, and was continued for more than half a century in a remarkably uniform style, replacing the older church progressively from east (chancel) to west. Its construction period overlapped with that of the Town Hall across the Markt, and in the earlier decades of construction shared the same succession of architects as its civic neighbor: Sulpitius van Vorst to start with, followed by Jan II Keldermans and later on Matheus de Layens. In 1497 the building was practically complete,although modifications, especially at the West End, continued.

 

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Uploaded on March 23, 2024
Taken on March 22, 2024