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Christmas scenes in Hanswijk basilica
Every year during the Christmas period, it is worth visiting Hanswijk Basilica. After all, we have a lot to offer in connection with Christmas. In our church, we try to safeguard the religious aspect of the nativity scene from overly commercial influences by telling the story of the birth of Jesus in its centuries-old folk-cultural tradition.
More information : https://torensaandedijle.mechelen.be/
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Our Lady of Hanswijk
The baroque church, as a place of pilgrimage, was designed by Lucas Faydherbe and built between 1663 and 1681. The church has a unique ground plan, combining 3 aisles with a central building. It is one of the first domed churches in the Low Countries.
Since 988 A.D. the miraculous statue of the Holy Mary is central to the church’ interior. According to legend, a heavily loaded ship stranded on the shores of the river Dijle, and became afloat again only after a statue of the Holy Mary was brought to the river shore in the district of Hanswijk. The people’s conclusion was that the Holy Mary wished to be worshipped in that spot.
When Malines was ravished by the plague in 1272 the people carried the statue in procession to the cathedral of St. Rumbold and the plague ended a few days later. Since then the Hanswijk procession is held yearly in grateful remembrance.
Started in 1738, at the 750th anniversary of the start of the devotion, a Hanswijk cavalcade is held every 25 years, a unique historical pageant last organised in 2013.
The church of Hanswijk was granted the status of basilica on October 6th 1987 by pope John Paul II in recognition of its function as important place of pilgrimage (988-1988).
The basilica of Our Lady of Hanswijk is one of 7 historic churches in Malines, promoted by Torens aan de Dijle, in cooperation with the city of Malines.
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