Sacred Heart

Belzele, located along the old De Lieve canal, offers a pleasant setting for cycling. With about 2,500 inhabitants, it has never been an independent municipality but always part of Evergem. 

Between 1902 and 1905, the village received its own church, the neo Gothic brick Church of the Sacred Heart. The tower followed in 1913. The building suffered heavy damage during the Second World War but was fully restored in 1951. 

The Gothic main altar features a wooden crucifix with statues of Our Lady and Saint John. Its stone base is divided into five compartments showing the Road to Emmaus and the apparition of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. In the choir, four painted scenes depict Melchizedek’s sacrifice, manna in the desert, the Last Supper, and Jesus as friend of children. 

The right altar is dedicated to Saint Joseph, with a stone statue and carved scenes of the Holy Family and Joseph on his deathbed. The left aisle altar honors Our Lady, with a stone statue and carvings of Mary giving the scapular to Saint Simon Stock and the rosary to Saint Dominic. 

Above the choir hangs a three meter suspended cross. The 1904 pulpit shows carved figures of the four evangelists. The 1905 baptismal font in the nave has a copper lid. The 24 meter tower originally held a single 1903 bell weighing 1,075 kg; two more bells were added during the 2011 2012 restoration.

Overview photo gallery of rural Belzele

Card from the Inventory of Cultural Heritage

KIKIRPA : photo-library online