The Virgin Mary and Child with Saint Anne
Hanegraefstraat 1
2050 Antwerpen-Linkeroever
Church | 1963-1970 | Modern | Catholic Church
Map
Opening hours
01 July - 30 September
Mon -
Tue -
Wed -
Thu -
Fri -
Sat 14.00 - 17.00
Sun 14.00 - 17.00
Religious offices
Description
This modern church, built in 1970, has been officially called Saint Anne the Trinity since 2006, thanks to a 1667 statue showing the Virgin, her mother Anne, and Jesus. The statue recalls the former chapel of Saint Anne, a pilgrimage site since 1330.
Locals affectionately call the place “Saint Annie” and the nearby Scheldt riverbank “Saint Annie’s beach”.
Architect Jos Ritzen designed the church as a multi purpose space. Its scallop shaped interior offers an unobstructed view, and the stained glass windows were created by French artist Jacques Loire of Chartres. In 2012 he added a contemporary glass tabernacle lit from within.
Several artists who have recently exhibited here have left one of their works behind.
With its movable altar and slightly sloping floor, the church is ideal for concerts and exhibitions. Since 2009 it has hosted an annual summer exhibition and around 15 to 20 concerts each year. Cultural activities are listed on www.anna3.be..
Since 2011 the church has been the first “church for cycles”. Visitors can picnic outside and leave their bikes in a shelter; drinking water, toilets, a waste container and charging points for electric bikes are available. The church also created the “Scheldt church route”, a cycling trail along the Scheldt to Rupelmonde, with shortcuts via its branches. A map is sold at the church.
It is also an ecological church: the building is lit by LEDs powered by 48 solar panels, rainwater is collected for the toilets, waste is sorted, and fair trade products are used.
KIKIRPA : Photo-library online
Photos
Media
Remarkable elements
Schilderij
Painting Willem Vermandere toured Flanders and The Netherlands for years with his art. The church bought this piece after the summer exhibition in 2009. The painting received a special place in this church.
Processiebeeld
Statue for procession This statue from 1899, specifically made for processions, of Our Lady wears a gold-brocade robe, which is decorated with lily-like flowers, roses, and festoons with nine devout virtues: piety, humility, patience, grief, poverty, love, faith, purity, and obedience.
Sint-Anna-ten-Drieën-beeld
Saint-Anna-Trinitas-Terrestris- statue The lime wood Saint-Anna- Trinitas-Terrestris statue (“Earthly Trinity”) (1667, artist unknown) displays Saint Anna with her daughter Maria and her grandson Jesus. Saint Anna caries a pear, the symbol for fertility and longevity, in her left hand.
Weekkapel
Chapel used during the week You can find all kinds of furniture from the second (neo-Gothic) church, which was built in 1903 on this spot but demolished again in 1968, in the chapel used during the week. The current church is the third church.
Engelen
Angels Music-making angels. These small stained glass windows were made of the rose windows from the former church and were restored to celebrate the mark of 100 years of the St.Anna parish in 1993.
Saint Anne / Choir ladies - 2021 campaign
Recovered from the Chapel of Saint Anne, this wooden statue from 1667 personifies the natural cycle of the past, present and future. Saint Anne carries her daughter Mary and her grandson Jesus in her arms.
This work contrasts with the ultra-modern architecture of the building that now houses it.
