Our Lady of Mercy

A nice place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Originally dedicated to Our Lady of Mercy, the Lutherans changed its focus. Its a very old church, and nice to pause and cool down a little bit. Please click on the photos to enlarge them.



The nave is pretty spectacular, with marble pillars, a killer stained glass panel over the west entrance, (where it will catch the afternoon light) and all the apostles carved lovingly on the pillars.
I love the way the light catches the apostles one after another through the day.

From the outside, a normal enough stone church, the steeple is "modern", that is to say, nineteenth century. Also all the stained glass is 1920's since it was all blown out in the first world war.

Some of the original sixth century frescoes. Painted right on the pillars of the church. I have no idea how they have been preserved for all these years...
This is the above picture with a little more light in the photo manipulation.

I think it is St Andrew, because he is carrying a cross. Just a guess...



Another stunning fresco painted as far as I can see right onto the limestone surface. (I wonder if it is still fresco if it does not involve plaster?)
This was the original entrance to the sanctuary, and down to the crypt. These date back to the Romans, or nearly! (actually, I don't think this is Roman architecture, though very old, I think this is antedates the Italian occupation, say 6th or 7th century. Though it is hard to tell at a glance since they so often used old Roman building techniques and antique pillars and blocks of stone. The crypt may well be Roman foundations to a temple placed here in honour of Jupiter or whatever.
Again, a very ancient painting on a very ancient pillar. The artwork is stunning, albeit a little the worse for wear after all these years.


Like many churches in Brussels, this one started out as a Catholic Church way back in the 3rd century. It was built, and re-built on the shifting Brussels clay soil through several changes....it was an Inquisitor's palace, a Lutheran stronghold, and now is simply a pretty church in an "established" district of Brussels.

Brenda and I do churches when we travel. It is normally a nice place to duck out of the heat, and you get to see the darndest things! Who would have thought these ancient paintings were even there? And it is kind of nice to see the antique churches. Most are beautiful buildings, normally none of them have life sized crucifixes, and normally it is totally free to get in.
Enjoy this little tour.

ttfn
Bill