Saint Hubert Chapel

The Saint-John-Evangelist church in Tervuren has a long and interesting history. Throughout the centuries, many things have changed and different building styles can still be found. The oldest remaining part of the church is the Romanesque tower, which dates from the 13th century. The west façade is Classical and dates from 1779. The rest of the building was built in the Gothic style. Originally there were three tombs of important Brabant dukes, but these were destroyed during the iconoclastic period in the 16th century.
A unique feature can be found right outside the north side of the church. In 1897, there was a World Fair and a total of 267 Congolese were brought to Tervuren to live in ‘traditional villages’. This exposition was an attempt of King Leopold II to justify colonialism in his ‘Belgian Congo’. Seven of the transferred Congolese did not survive the summer and were buried next to the church.

There is not much information about the origins of the church. It may have been a chapel of a castle during the 10th or 11th century. In 1228, the church is mentioned for the first time. The nave and the tower are the only two original parts of the Romanesque church from before 1228. In 1263, some Gothic parts were added to the building. The choir was renovated in 1747. Afterwards more repairs and maintenance works were done. In 1758, the church was damaged due to a fire. During the 19th century, many renovation works were done. In 1913 a neo-Gothic sacristy was built and the baptismal font and organ were renewed. Not long after 1946, damage from the second World War was restored. The last thorough renovation dates from 1990 until 2002.

The Abbey of Rouge-Cloître was built in 1366 as a hermitage. The priory was then built in 1374, on land granted by the duchess Jeanne de Brabant. In the 16th century, the monastery was one of the most prestigious in the Spanish Netherlands, Charles V often stayed there. However, at the end of the 16th century, during the Dutch revolt (from 1566), the priory was looted and the canons were forced to take refuge in Brussels until the end of the troubles. The monastery was definitively suppressed in 1796 with the suppression of the monasteries decreed by the French Directory.