Saint Sebastian
Rue de Bossimé 24
5101 Loyers (Namur)
Church | XIII-XIX | Gothic, Neogothic | Catholic Church
Map
Opening hours
01 January - 31 December
Mon 10.00 - 17.00
Tue 10.00 - 17.00
Wed 10.00 - 17.00
Thu 10.00 - 17.00
Fri 10.00 - 17.00
Sat 10.00 - 17.00
Sun 10.00 - 17.00
Religious offices
Description
Built in the 12th and 13th centuries as the chapel of Loyers castle, the building was extended in the 19th and 20th centuries to become the village parish church. It features a single nave, built in 1904 by the architect Joostens, a wooden ceiling and an ogival choir containing a theotheca or eucharistic tower, dated 1584.
The church and cemetery have preserved numerous funerary monuments from the 16th and 17th centuries. Among these is the slab of Godefroid d'Ève and Hélène de Salmier, dated 1552, embedded in the boundary wall of the old cemetery and mentioning the former county of Namur. However, only three fragments of this effigy slab remain. On the edge of one of them is an inscription in tiny Gothic letters: Godefroid d'Eve, chevalier de Loyers, at one time bailiff of Bouvignes, lieutenant under Monsieur le Marquis de Berghes, captain general of the duchy of Luxembourg and county of Chiny and since then lieutenant under monsieur le sénéchal du Hainaut, governor and sovereign bailiff of the country and county of Namur (...).
Source: Connaître la Wallonie - Frédéric Marchesani
KIKIRPA : Photo-library online
Photos
Remarkable elements
Theotheca
Theothecae, or towers of the Blessed Sacrament, appeared in Germany and later in France, Switzerland and Italy between the 15th and 17th centuries. In Belgium they almost disappeared, but Loyers still preserves one. Dated 1584, the 2.50 m tower is carved in fragile Maastricht tufa. It shows fruit, the four Evangelists, restored brick coloured grilles, the Last Supper, scenes of manna and Melchisedech, and ends with a pelican symbolizing the Eucharist.
Source: Diocese of Namur
Stations of the Cross
Remarkable polychrome Stations of the Cross from the 19th century.
Statue of Saint Sebastian
To the right of the choir is a polychrome wooden statue of Saint Sebastian, the patron saint of the parish. Under the persecution of Diocletian, this army officer was denounced as a Christian to the emperor. Bound naked to a tree, he was fired upon by his own soldiers. Riddled with arrows, he survived only to be caned to death.
Source: Abbé Fabien Mathot
Stained-glass windows
This stained glass window is located in the choir and depicts The Last Supper. Like the other stained glass windows, it dates from the second half of the 19th century. Neo-Gothic style, unknown stained glass artist.
Holy water font
Made of carved stone, it dates back to the 17th century, by an unknown stonemason.
Baptismal font
Stone carved in neo-Gothic style, 1884, height 118 cm, carver unknown.
