Sainte-Catherine Church

The present Church of Saint Catherine of Brussels was built on the site of a dock in the old port of Brussels between 1854 and 1874. The building, of French Gothic inspiration, replaces an old 14th century church that had become too small. Twice the church has been threatened with demolition: in the 1950s in favour of an open-air car park, in 2011, as a project to transform the building into a covered market is under study. In 2014, the church was finally placed under the responsibility of the priests of the Brotherhood of the Holy Apostles.

About this building

Key Features

  • Architecture

Visitors information

  • Bus stop within 100m
  • Café within 500m

Other nearby buildings

Wikimedia Commons/EmDee

Tower of the former St. Catherine's Church

This tower is the last remnant of St. Catherine's Church which preceded the present church. The former Church of St. Catherine was a Gothic church built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The church was later enlarged by a choir in the 17th century. In the same century, from 1629 to 1664, the baroque bell tower was built. The bell tower was restored between 1913 and 1930.

Saint-Jean-Baptiste-au-Béguinage

The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste-au-Béguinage is a Catholic religious building in the Italian-Flemish Baroque style. It was built from 1657 after the Gothic church of the beguinage was plundered by the Calvinists in 1579. The beguinage houses that once stood around the church were destroyed in the 19th century. The church was restored after a fire destroyed its roof structure in 2000.

Wikimedia Commons/Parsifall

Church of Notre-Dame aux Riches Claires

The church of Notre-Dame aux Riches Claires is a baroque style church built in 1665 by the Malinois architect Lucas Faydherbe.In 1796, following the French Revolution, the Poor Clares were expelled from their convent to which the church was attached. The church became a military store and the other buildings of the monastery were sold in 1805 as a national property. Later in the century, the streets "Saint-Christophe" and "des Riches-Claires" were traced through the property of the monastery. The church escaped destruction and regained its character as a place of worship in 1806.