Saint Mary’s Church

This Romanesque-Byzantine church was built between 1845 and 1888 to the design of the architect Henri Désiré Louis Vanoverstraeten, who had won the competition held by the parish. Following Vanoverstraeten's untimely death in 1849, the project was managed by four other architects before its completion: Louis Roelandt (1849-1864), Gustave Hansotte (1864-1886), and finally François Thomisse and Alexandre Struyven (1886-1888). In its time, the church with its audacious design was a true oddity and one of the very first examples of eclectic architecture in Brussels. Since then, however, its silhouette has become a distinctive feature of the Schaerbeek cityscape and its starry dome forms a magnificent focal point of the vista along the Rue Royale. The church is octagonal, supported by eight pillars laid out around a 25m diameter circle and linked to each other by horseshoe-shaped arches. In addition, the church has six side-chapels arranged around the dome, as well as a Neo-Romanesque crypt.

SATURDAY 07 OCTOBER

SUNDAY 08 OCTOBER