Sint-Leonardus
Grote Markt
3440 Zoutleeuw
Church | XIII-XVI | Gothic | Roman Catholic Church
Map
Opening hours
01 April - 30 September
Mon -
Tue 14.00 - 17.00
Wed 14.00 - 17.00
Thu 14.00 - 17.00
Fri 14.00 - 17.00
Sat 14.00 - 17.00
Sun 14.00 - 17.00
01 October - 31 October
Mon -
Tue -
Wed -
Thu -
Fri -
Sat -
Sun 14.00 - 17.00
Open on Easter Monday and Whit Monday.
Guided tour
1st Sunday of the month : 15.30 - 16.30 : free visit
Religious offices
Description
This colossal gothic construction was built mainly between the 13th and 16th centuries. The numerous works of art in Saint Leonard’s church makes it world renowned. By chance, the Iconoclast Revolt of 1566 and the French Revolution passed by almost unnoticed. Thanks to that this prestigious cultural heritage was preserved: altar pieces, paintings, statues, copper and silver works, devotional ornaments…
One of the church’s jewels is the restored Saint Sacrament tower. This tabernacle in white stone from Avesnes was made in the workshop of Cornelis Floris de Vriendt in Antwerp and erected in Zoutleeuw in 1552.The tower is 18 metres high with 9 floors holding 200 statuettes, depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments.
Another work of art is the copper Easter candle holder which is 5.68 metres high and weighs 950 kilos. It was moulded by Renier van Thienen. It is Europe’s second largest Easter candlestick.
The side chapels were added in the 16th century on the request of the guilds. They contain numerous altar pieces of unequalled splendour: the retable of Saint Anne (16th century), of Notre-Dame (16th century and of Saint Leonard (15th century).
KIKIRPA : Photo-library online
The St Leonard's church (NL)
Masterpieces St Leonard's church (NL)
Tourism Zoutleeuw (NL)
Photos
Media
Remarkable elements
Marianum
This duplex polychrome statue of Mary is located at the back of the nave. Mary is depicted as a woman from the Apocalypse, dressed with the moon and the sun. She stands in a rosary that is held by six angels (oak, 1533, neo-Gothic polychrome)
Easter Candelabra
The Easter Candelabra can be found on the left when entering the choir. It was cast, using the technique of the ‘lost wax’, in 1483 by Renier van Thienen from Brussels based on a design by Jan Borman. It is 5,68 metres (18,6 feet) high and weighs 950 kilograms (2094 lbs). It is one of Europe’s largest candelabras. The oldest and most beautiful part of the Saint Leonard’s church is the early thirteenth-century choir with its four divisions: the choir with ambulatory, the open choir gallery decorated with iron sandstone, the closed choir gallery with slender twin columns and the clerestory.
Sacrament house
The highlight of the church can be found in the northern transept. The Sacrament house constructed in white sandstone from Avesnes (France) is a masterpiece made by stone mason and sculptor Cornelis II Floris de Vriendt from Antwerp. It was a present from the church’s patron, squire Maarten van Wilre and his wife Maria, to the Saint Leonard’s church. Iconography on the Eucharist theme can be found in the tower monstrance (1550-1552, height 18 m (59 feet), 9 floors)
Romanesque Christ
This statue can be found above the entrance to the sacristy. It probably originally comes from the first parish church of Zoutleeuw that was dedicated to Saint Sulpitius of Bourges. The Corpus Christ (1060-1070) is older than the Saint Leonard’s church itself. Victorious over death, Christ is no longer carrying a thorn crown. His loincloth is quite long and his feet are nailed next to each other. Christ’s face is exceptionally expressive.
Saint Leonard of Noblat
The oldest statue of the patron saint of the church can be found in the southern transept. He is also the patron of the city of Zoutleeuw: the French hermit and liberator Leonard. Leonard is depicted holding a dalmatic and a set of rock crystal pearls. In his one hand he holds a book and in his other a staff. He wears a big tonsure, that attests to his austere, ascetic life in the French Limousin. His gaze is focused on infinity (circa 1360, Baltic oak).
