Notre-Dame de la Visitation

Sunday 9.30 am

The church is best seen from afar, from the nearby road, in daytime (and at night when it is lit), topped by its bell tower and spire, overlooking the village in the middle of the fields. It is a beautiful and soothing landscape and one of the reasons why Mélin has been selected, among about twenty others, as one of the most beautiful villages in Wallonia. This distinction was also due to the fact that the village is the cradle of the famous white stone of Gobertange, one of the hamlets of the village. This stone, quarried in Gobertange, is used on many of the façades of the old houses of the village - and also on the church tower, although brick was also used for its construction.

The neo-classical building has character with its slender steeple, robust bell tower and four new clock dials (2005). The surroundings are charming with the listed presbytery, the nearby Cense du Seigneur, the old cobblestones and the adjoining cemetery where you can discover, along the surrounding wall, a recent and unusual tomb covered with a carpet of wrought-iron leaves.

In the porch, a very original and unexpected evocation: on small rectangular white stones, are inscribed all the names of the fifty or so priests who have succeeded each other since 1290.

Inside, visitors will notice the painting above the altar, made on wood by Léon Herbot, in 1874, depicting Saint Dominic receiving the rosary from the hands of the Virgin, and also the beautiful carved oak furniture, including the pulpit, and the Renaissance organ (1616), listed and one of the oldest in Walloon Brabant.

KIKIRPA : Photo-library online