Our Lady of the Assumption

Triptych of the Deploration of Christ

Masterpiece of the church, attributed to the Master of Frankfurt (1460–ca.1533), likely commissioned by a lord of Watervliet, though sources are lacking. Stylistically dated 1515–1525, it is first mentioned in 1627, when David Noveliers restored it; it then stood on the high altar. Open, the triptych shows the Portage of the Cross, the Descent from the Cross and the Resurrection.

Organ and portal

This early baroque organ, built in 1643 by Baudouin Ledon of Bruges, is a remarkable instrument suited to baroque music, with characteristic registers such as the nightingale. Beneath it stands an ornate portal by Jacques Sauvage (1649), composed of three parts marked by columns on a high, advanced pedestal. Its rhythmic structure still reflects Renaissance style.

Main altar, ambulatory and choir stalls

The monumental high altar, fully Baroque, was created between 1652 and 1655 by Lucas Faydherbe, who had worked in Rubens’ workshop and mastered his dynamic style. The choir stalls differ from the communion bench and pulpit but resemble the portal. Made in 1643 by Jacques Sauvage, they feature doors bearing the Lauwerijn family’s coat of arms.

Tombstone of Hiëronymus Lauwerijn and his wife

Hieronymus Lauwerijn built the church between 1501 and 1540, and until the French Revolution his tomb dominated the large choir. He wished to be buried there, but the tomb was removed and destroyed during the Revolution. Rediscovered in 1893, the fragments were reassembled and completed in plaster by Rooms of Ghent. Since 1894, the stone with the effigies of Lauwerijn and his wife stands in the choir ambulatory.

Baroque truth pulpit and communion bench

From the Counter-Reformation onwards, the pulpit became an important piece of church furniture. It is a 1726 work of art by the famous sculptor Hendrik Pulinx (1698-1781). The theme represented here is the Last Judgement as described in the Apocalypse of John. Below is Hieronymus Lauwerijn, the founder of the church.

The communion bench is in the same hand as the pulpit. The resemblance is striking in terms of the composition and design of the foliage and the angels.

The Stee and the church in Watervliet

The church of Watervliet, founded in the early 16th century and known as “the cathedral of the North”, overlooks the village square or Stee, once home to a weekly market and annual fair. The trapezoidal square, with kiosk and water pump, is surrounded by key buildings: church and cemetery, presbytery, old communal house and bourgeois homes. The north south Molenstraat and Ketterijstraat have shaped the village for centuries.

Download the plan of the remarkable elements