Sint-Pieterskerk (Saint Peter’s Church)
Sint-Kwintenskerk (Saint Quentin’s Church)
In the 15th century, the people of Leuven started building this
Gothic church. The towers have never been completed due to
subsidence due to an unstable soil. Inside the church, the
M - Treasury of Saint Peter is the big crowd puller. There you will
find ‘The Last Supper’ by Dirk Bouts. It is also worth seeing the
crypt of the former Romanesque church, the Gothic
tabernacle by Mathieu de Layens and the baptismal font from
1490. The belfry has been listed as UNESCO world heritage.
In 1252, the original district chapel was elevated to parish church.
It was rebuilt in Gothic style in 1450. The choir was built in
Brabantine High Gothic, whereas the nave and side aisles were
put up in simple Demer or rural Gothic style. The presbytery
and transept were supposedly designed by Leuven master
builder Mathieu de Layens, also known for the town hall. In 1937,
the Sint-Kwintenskerk was listed as a protected monument by
Royal Decree.
Grote Markt
Every day: 10 am-4.30 pm (Wednesdays: closed until 01/05)
Saturdays: 10 am-4.30 am | Sundays & holidays: 11 am-4.30 pm
Naamsestraat 160A
Saturdays & Sundays: 1.30-4.30 pm
Sint-Jan-De-Doperkerk (Saint John the Baptist Church)
Sint-Geertruikerk (Saint Gertrude’s Church)
The church of the University Parish, an early Gothic basilica
without tower, was founded in 1305 and completed between 1421
and 1468. The church is built in the Leuven rural Gothic style, but
you can also distinguish some Romanesque features. The north
entrance carries the inscriptions of the year of foundation of
the beguinage (1234) and of the first year of construction of the
church (1305). In 2000, the beguinage and the church were listed
as UNESCO world heritage. Recent restorations have revealed
numerous frescos from the 14th, 15th and 17th centuries.
This church of the former Sint-Geertruiabdij was no more than
an oratory in the middle of the 12th century. The church itself
was erected between the 13th and the 15th centuries. The church
boasts remarkable late-Gothic choir stalls. The stone steeple is
known as the ‘tower without nails’ because it was built without
a single nail. Dating from 1454, this is one of the seven wonders
of Leuven.
Groot Begijnhof (Great Beguinage), Schapenstraat
Tuesdays to Sundays: 1.30-4.30 pm
Halfmaartstraat
Saturdays & Sundays: 1.30-4.30 pm
Sint-Michielskerk (Saint Michael’s Church)
Sint-Antoniuskapel (Saint Anthony’s Chapel)
The church was built between 1650 and 1666 in white sandstone
and ironstone. The façade looks like an altar with its ionic columns,
pilasters and friezes decorated with angels, bunches of grapes
and corncobs. The façade is characterised as ‘the altar outside the
church’ and is one of the 7 wonders of Leuven. The church was
almost completely destroyed during an air raid on the city in the
night of 10 May 1944. Only the façade miraculously survived.
The reconstruction of the church was finished in 1950.
The history of this chapel, one of the medieval chapels of Leuven,
goes back to the 14th century. In the 19th century, it became an
important place of pilgrimage for Sint-Jozef. The sanctuary was
given its current aspect in the early nineteen sixties when the
original chapel was thoroughly renovated. The body of Father
Damien has rested in this chapel since 1936. After his beatification
in 1995, he was also honoured with the title of “The Greatest
Belgian” in 2005. Father Damien’s canonisation followed in 2009.
His life story is told in a permanent exhibition in the chapel.
Naamsestraat 57A
Tuesdays to Sundays | 1.30-4.30 pm
Pater Damiaanplein
Every day: 9 am-6 pm
Sint-Jan-de-Evangelistkerk (Saint John the Evangelist Church)
Anatomisch Amfitheater (Anatomical Amphitheatre)
This abbey church towers over the site. Only 2 years after the
foundation of the Norbertine abbey in 1129, a Romanesque chapel
was built. In the current church you can still see vestiges of the
13th century Romanesque church. Important changes were made
in the 16th and 17th centuries. The church is mainly decorated in
classical white stucco with baroque ornamentation and faux
marble elements. The interior boasts baroque sculptures and
furniture with woodcarving and important paintings about the
life of Saint Norbert and his great example Jesus Christ.
The building from 1744 was designed by Jacques A. Hustin
and co-funded by the initiator: rector and medical practitioner
Henri Joseph Rega from Leuven, to create ideal circumstances
for the investigation and observation of the human body. The
students used to occupy wooden stands while attending class.
The anatomical theatre is in a late-baroque style, featuring rococo
characteristics, as can be seen in the decoration of the cupola.
Next to the theatre, the building features 2 small rooms to store
the bodies. These rooms are not accessible.
Abdij van Park (Park Abbey), Heverlee
Fridays & Sundays: 1.30-5 pm
Minderbroedersstraat 50
From 01/05 | Fridays to Sundays: 1.30-4.30 pm
EN
1 Sint-Geertruikerk
2 Sint-Pieterskerk
3 Sint-Michielskerk
4 Sint-Jan-de-Evangelistkerk
1
5 Sint-Kwintenskerk
Schapenstraat
6 Sint-Jan-de-Doperkerk
7 Sint-Antoniuskapel
2
8 Anatomical Amphitheatre
8
7
3
6
5
4
Church & co
Leuven
4
Tourism Leuven
Naamsestraat 3, 3000 Leuven
T 32 (0) 16 20 30 20 | [email protected] | www.visitleuven.be
every day | 10 am-5 pm
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1 April - 30 September