- St. Leonard's Church, Zoutleeuw
The Saint Leonard's Church (Dutch: "Sint-Leonarduskerk") in
Zoutleeuw ,Belgium , stands on the former site of a Romanesque chapel erected in 1125 byBenedictine s from the Abbey of Vlierbeek nearLeuven . Construction of the present church began around 1231, and additions continued into the 16th century. Rendered mainly in the Gothic style, the building in its oldest parts shows traces of the Romanesque.The two heavy square towers flanking the west facade are connected with each other by means of a gallery over the
nave . The slender central tower, octagonal in cross-section, contains acarillon with 24 bells. Since 1999, this church with its towers has been part of aUNESCO World Heritage Site ("seeBelfries of Belgium and France ").Few if any other medieval churches in Belgium remain in such an excellent state of preservation as St. Leonard's, which stayed clear of the widespread
iconoclasm during theProtestant Reformation . It also survived theFrench Revolution intact, because three canons took an oath of allegiance to the French regime. The interior thus offers an authentic glimpse of how the churches of Brabant were furnished centuries ago.Art relics
* a tabernacle in the form of a 18-meter-high, nine-level tower, built in 1552 by
Cornelis Floris de Vriendt . This tower of white Avesnes stone was shipped to the church in components, from de Vriendt's workshop inAntwerp .
* the "Marianum", a painted double-sided sculpture of theVirgin Mary , from the 16th century.
* a Virgin Maryicon from 1250.
* a six-meter-high brasscandelabra from 1483.
* icons ofSaint Leonard of Noblac (the church's eponymous patron saint) from 1300 and 1505.
* the St. Leonardretable from 1478.
* a woodenpietà from the 15th century.
* a Romanesquecrucifix from the 11th century.
* a brass lectern with eagle sculpture.
* a Renaissance retable ofSaint Anne , from the 16th century.External links
*nl icon [http://www.zoutleeuw.be/Toerisme/Bezienswaardigheden/Sint_Leonarduskerk/algemeen De Sint-Leonarduskerk] from the official Zoutleeuw site, with several images
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