Saint James

The Saint James' church dates from 1940 and is situated nearby the famous Menenpoort and alongside the city vests with its typical casemates, where it is nice to walk.

The original Roman church (mentioned in 1139) had a Gothic rebuilt in the 14th century. The flour rose 1,80 meters. A new church tower was installed just before World War I. During the fights in the Yser region this Gothic church was almost completely destroyed. With just one portal of the Gothic church remaining, the reconstruction was left in the hands of the noted reconstruction architect Jules Coomans. It was finished on the 28th of May 1934. Photographs taken during the rebuilding show the condition of the church in September 1924.

The uniform furniture stems largely from the art workshop in the abbey of Maredsous. During the neo-gothic rebuilt a uniform interior including neo-gothic wooden and marble paneling, pulpits, baptismal font, choir stalls, choir screen and altars.
Some of the statues date back to the 17th and 16th century. The paintings range from the 17th century up to the 20th century. The Adoration of the Magi was painted by Jan Cossiers and dates back to the 17th century.

A number of canvasses are painted after old master painters, with references among others to Patinier, Murillo, Rubens, and De Craeyer. Be sure to go and take look at the funerary hatchments hanging from the tower walls and the gravestones and the commemorative stones against the west walls.

KIKIRPA : Photo-library online

Ypres tourism

Heritage stops

Image archive “West corner imagined”

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