Sint-Petrus

This little country church with its surrounding graveyard is now a protected village view. The path leading to the church is lined with an iron fence on which exceptional rosebushes grow. Glass designer Mieke Verwaetermeulen from De Pinte used the beauty of these rosebushes to create the stained glass windows of the lancet window above the church entrance.

At this location, the oldest remains of a one aisled church date back to the thirteenth century. The masonry of the arch in Tournai stone, situated behind the rood screen in the church, has been made visible again. The first expansion of the church was the western tower. The tower vault rests on four corbels that are decorated with symbols of the four evangelists.

During the 17th century a southern aisle with three Gothic windows was added. Late in the 18th century this aisle was extended with a fourth bay with a Classicist arched window. In this period the northern aisle was constructed in the same style.

The five-sided apse is decorated in neo-Gothic style with stained glass windows and two paintings. A representation of the Nativity has been carved in the white stone pedestal of the altar. There is a reliquary above the tabernacle dating back to the eighteenth century. On top of it is an oak bust of St. Peter, the patron saint of this church. The side altars are also neo-Gothic.

The mahogany church furniture is Classicist, dating back to the late 18th and early 19th century. Mementos have been carved in the choir. A central medallion in the pulpit depicts Christ the Good Shepherd. On the southern side of the confessional there is a medallion depicting a repentant Peter and on the northern side a medallion depicting Maria Magdalene as a hermit. The rood loft and the organ also date back to the eighteenth century. During the restoration works of the organ the name ‘P. Van Petegem‘ (a famous organ builder) and the date ‘1741‘ were found in the valve chest. In the middle of the organ case is a medallion depicting King David, the psalmist.

Inside of the church walls hang the Stations of the Cross from the nineteenth century. A seventeenth century altar frontal, originally from Tournai, stands on the southern side. The red velvet is embroidered. A beautiful statue of the Crucified Jesus, dating back to the eighteenth century hangs on the western facade. This statue used to hang outside. The original cross has perished.

In 2008 the altar zone was expanded with the same tile pattern in black and white marble. The altar in Jura stone is now facing the community. Everything is new: the choir, the chandeliers, the lights and the fresh layer of paint on the walls. The fifteenth century brass baptismal font, originally from Tournai, now stands amid a curved oak bench, in such a way that it creates a baptistery.

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