01 January - 31 December
Mon 9.00 - 18.00
Tue 9.00 - 18.00
Wed 9.00 - 18.00
Thu 9.00 - 18.00
Fri 9.00 - 18.00
Sat 9.00 - 18.00
Sun 9.00 - 18.00
Situated on the main square of the town, the church is built of blue stone from Avesnes, and is a classified Historical Monument. Built during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries in the gothic style, it also preserves a few older elements. Its portal, a remarkable gothic doorway in the late gothic style, is open on three sides. Once the doors have been passed the church reveals itself entirely, vast and luminous.
It is necessary to look up in the nave, to see the barrel vaulting, and to admire the figures of the Old Testament carved at the base of the beams. The sanctuary is particularly interesting with its ribbed vaults and stained glass windows. These are modern in the apse, while those at the sides are exceptional 16th century stained glass. The church has kept interesting furnishings, such as the majestic organ, the stalls from the old convent of the Grey Sisters, whose misericords present fine sculptures, the clock mechanism, or the bells bought with gifts from the Archdukes Isabelle and Albert, governors of the south Pays Bas where Solre-le-Chateau situated.
The bulbous steeple of the church of St. Peter in Solre-le-Chateau has a twin in the church steeple of Our Lady of Walcourt, in Belgium, only 30 minutes drive away. Do not hesitate to visit it.
Visible from miles away, the church is striking for its leaning bell tower, which has given rise to several legends to explain its inclination. The tower can be visited on guided tours.
They date from 1532-1534 and are remarkable for their very Renaissance designs : Ecce homo, presentation to Pilate, Saint George slaying the dragon...
The stained glass windows depict the three visions of the Apocalypse.
Félix Del Marle was an early 20th-century artist in the Mondrian movement, originally from Pont-sur-Sambre.
An early 17th-century vault in the Rosary Chapel, painted and coloured as most vaults of that period would have been, with sculpted cherubs and a phylactery to Mary.