Sint-Lutgardis

Kerknet

Neo-Romanesque church in the Breemdstraat, with a triangular pediment over the entrance and with its free-standing tower (bell tower).

Built in the years 1953-1954 by the architect Jozef Ritzen and consecrated in 1956, the church is dedicated to Saint Lutgarde, who was born in Tongeren in 1182 and died in 1246 in the abbey of the Cistercians in Aywières (Liege). She was continually in a state of ecstasy and performed miracles. Curiously, she refused to learn French. This is the reason she was chosen as the patron saint of the Flemish Movement. She is also the patron saint of Tongeren and of Flanders, of the blind and of pregnant women. A short time after her death texts were written about her in Latin, which were translated into medieval Dutch, probably even before 1254. These books were rediscovered in Copenhagen in 1897.
In the interior of the church viewers can admire numerous statues and stained glass windows, donated among others by the ‘de Vlaamse Toeristenbond’ (VTB, The Flemish tourist organisation).

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