Our Lady of the Chapel

(Place de la Chapelle/Kapellemarkt)

The Chapel church features a complex history. The present church dates back to a chapel build by Godfried, Duke of Brabant, in 1134, outside of the city walls and offered to the monastery of Holy Sepulchre in Cambrai. The surroundings grew rapidly and the church was enlarged with a  romanesque-gothic nave (1195) and an early gothic choir (1250). In 1210 it was elevated to the rank of parish, much against the will of the chapter of the nearby Saint-Gudula main Church, wary of losing their incomes.

In 1405, great parts of the church were damaged by a huge fire. These parts were later rebuilt in a late gothic style, with a rudimentary bells tower. It was again damaged by the 1695 bombings, then closed by the revolutionaries, and was eventually reopen as a parish church in 1803.
Pieter Breughel the Elder (1569) and his wife Maria Coecke are buried here. The Marolles, Saint Boniface, Frans Anneessens,…are among the names associated with this gothic church.