The Antwerp Cathedral

CAN YOU STAY ON THE WWW AFTER LIFE? I think it's possible... How?

(and that page is NOT about religion at all!)

I must not forget to tell you that it's worth going to listen to the (free) 'Carillon Concerts': on each Friday at noon, the whole year round; or in the holiday period (July and August) on each Monday evening at 8:00 pm. Ask the inhabitants where to go to hear the carillon best! The concerts last 1 hour.

THE ANTWERP CATHEDRAL

Originally,

the idea was that 2 towers would be built at the west (front) side instead of the one there is now.Luckily, by lack of funds at a given time, as in many other cities, the second one remained unfinished. One could say that the one, tall tower (right picture) offers Antwerp visitors a far more elegant view than would the twin towers. Agree?

I invite you to have a look at the (very good!) Official Pages of Our Lady's Cathedral ... or to study a Nice drawing with historical evolution of the construction of the tower...

Antwerp counts about 60 catholic churches and many monasteries and convents. It has always been an important religious center and still is a bishopric.
The main church of course is the cathedral; its name is Our Lady's ("Onze-Lieve-Vrouw"). It's a very large gothic church, built between 1350 and 1520; it has three towers:one on the transept and two in front, of different height (the northern one 123 m).

Mary is the patron saint of the cathedral and also of the whole city. A sixteenth century wooden statue of Our Lady can be seen and worshipped in the most important of the many chapels in this church. Centuries long the chapel and its statue have been visited by pilgrims (a street leading to the church is still called Pilgrimstreet), begging Mary to be healed.

Visitors now are impressed in the first place by
three huge paintings by P.P.RUBENS

on the main altar and in the transept:
the Assumption, the Crucifixion (also called 'The erection of the cross'), and the Deposition (or: 'Descent from the Cross').

The last one, a triptych, was ordened by the
Antwerp mayor N.ROCKOX , a good friend
of Rubens.

For Japanese tourists it's a must to visit the cathedral and to admire Rubens'"Crucifixion".
All indeed have read a melodramatic novel, translated into their language; its chief characters are
a boy (Nello) and his dog (Patrasche), who daily visit the church, although living in the outskirts
of the city (Hoboken): the boy has an intense admiration for that precise triptych.

Assumption Day (15th of August - you should see the famous, folkloristic Rubens market on that day!) remains the principal festive day of the year for the cathedral. And traditionary most inhabitants enjoy their holidays around mid-August; it's the period called the Antwerp "Grote Kermis" (Big Fair).

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Latest update April 7th 2005.

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