BELGIUM 2016: Two Basilicas

By now you know that Astrid and I LOVE church architecture here in Europe and make a point of grabbing it whenever/wherever we can.

It didn't take long to find out from our B&B hostess near Leuven that there were TWO basilicas in the area we might want to check out.  And we did!

First of all, as a protestant, I didn't grow up with cathedrals or basilicas...just churches.  My dad was a Baptist preacher.

So, this helps me:

CHURCH:  "A building for public Christian worship."

CATHEDRAL:  "A Christian church building in which a bishop has his official seat (cathedra is Latin for "chair").  A cathedral is usually large and imposing, and many cathedrals are important in the history of architecture."

BASILICA:  "A large and important Roman Catholic church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope." More than 1,580 churches worldwide have been honored as basilicas, 69 of which are in the USA.

Okay then!  These are the two vastly different basilicas we visited while on our wee Belgium trip a couple weeks ago:

1:  Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium.

We had first seen it from afar one day and asked our hostess about it,

not knowing it was a basilica.

The next day we made sure we visited it!

It was consecrated in 1627 and raised to the status of a minor basilica in 1922.

As basilicas go (or any churches, for that matter), this is relatively small.

(I know small is a relative word, but take my word for it.)

Basically, you walk into a circular room with the high altar in front of you.
(I'm standing at the entrance in the top-middle image.)

Up above is the dome; down below is the "center point."

"As in heaven above, so on earth below" ran through my mind.

Off to one side was the pulpit....

and in the back/front, above the entrance, was the organ.

But outside that inner, cozy worship sanctum, was a concentric circle of 6 chapels.

You can actually walk from one chapel to the other and look out from each into the sanctuary.

In fact, sometimes I had to stand inside the chapel to get the best images of the sanctuary.

That's how small this space is.

Inside and outside the chapels, you already know what grabbed my attention.

Definitely worth visiting on a gorgeous, sunny day!

2.  Basilica of the Sacred Heart, in Brussels, Belgium (municipality Koekelberg).

The next day was our trip to Brussels for the Christmas market, using the Metro from the Atomium.  Our hostess, knowing how much we liked the first basilica, told us about a quick stop outside of Brussels to visit quite a larger basilica...and so very different from the first.

OMG!  From the Metro we walked through a park with the basilica ever in front of us.

After crossing the busy street in front, we saw it up close and personal,

little knowing until then that the architecture was ART DECO,

inspired by the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris.

The first stone was laid in 1905, after which construction was then halted by the two world wars.

It was consecrated as a basilica in 1935 and was completed in 1970.

It is the largest building in Art Deco style in the world, 292 ft high and 540 ft. long.

I can't begin to describe this religious space.

Huge.  Open.  Light.  Whimsical.  Fun.  Free.  

And just when I thought I had already seen the nave, there was another one.

It's like the worship space never ended...becoming several spaces/places.

See what I mean?

The church can accommodate 3,500 people.

And not just one dome, mind you.

To be honest, I can't imagine anyone sleeping on the job while there!

But stranger things can happen, as we all know.

And so it was that in such a short span of time, we got to see two of Belgium's most unforgettable basilicas.  There are 8 more in Belgium...ready for our next visit, perhaps?

But, wait!  There are 8 in the Netherlands, 2 of which we have seen, so maybe we need to start at home first?