This beautiful church was built in the late Gothic style in the 15th century, and the exterior had me mesmerised at the intricacy and detail of the stonework and carvings.

According to legend, a young girl from Antwerp had a vision in which the Virgin Mary told her to steal a statue of herself and take it to this chapel. She managed to do this and arrived in Brussels by boat in 1348. The statue was placed in the chapel and became the patron of the guild of archers which later commissioned the bigger Eglise Notre Dame du Sablon. This church took about a century to build.

Sadly I didn’t go inside the church, that according to pics I’ve seen on the web is beautiful.

Definitely next time…

This post was created in response to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Sculptures, statues, carvings.