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Sainte-Waudru de Mons Collegiate Church

Place du Chapitre, 7000 Mons, Belgique

RELIGIONS Catholic

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIGIOUS SITE

DESCRIPTION
The collegiate church of Sainte-Waudru de Mons is a Catholic religious building in the Brabant Gothic style dedicated to Saint Waudru, the patron saint of the city of Mons (Belgium). Begun in 1450, the work stopped in 1691, without the church ever being completed. It is classified as a major heritage site in Wallonia.
HISTORICAL RELEVANCE
The construction of the building was decided by the Sainte-Waudru chapter: the work began in 1450 and lasted no less than 241 years. The original plans were drawn up by architects from Montpellier and Mathieu de Layens, a native of Soignies, among others, from which the successive owners of the site have not deviated, which gives the building its harmony.

The current collegiate church succeeded other buildings that have occupied this mound since the 6th century, when St. Waudru founded the first hermitage. Its plan is in the shape of a Latin cross; its length is 115 metres by 32 metres wide. At the keystone, it reaches a height of 24.5 metres. The choir is surrounded by an ambulatory and 15 radiant chapels. The materials used to build it are sandstone, blue stone and brick.

The construction of a 190-metre high bell tower was originally planned: work began in 1548, and in 1620 the buildings stopped, although the church was never completed. They stopped definitively in 1691 at the roof of the nave. The fact has since become proverbial: when something takes time to end, the people of Montois say: "This is the Sainte-Waudru tower, we won't see the end of it! »

During the French Revolution, the building was used as a stable and almost demolished. From 1803 onwards, it was returned to worship not as a personal parish of the canons, but as the main parish of the town of Mons, a role formerly vested in Saint-Germain, a church adjacent to Sainte-Waudru, which was razed to the ground in 1799.

The collegiate church is classified as a major heritage site in Wallonia.
INTER-RELIGIOUS RELEVANCE
It was probably in the second half of the 18th century that a religious community was founded by Saint Waudru. After her death, the small female community developed.

Between the 10th and 13th centuries, regular nuns secularized. This is the origin of the noble Chapter of Sainte-Waudru, the nuns becoming canons, coming from noble families in Europe. In the thirteenth century, it was enough to be a knight's daughter to be admitted to the Chapter. But in 1769, Empress Marie-Thérèse, sister-in-law of Abbess Anne-Charlotte of Lorraine, decreed that it was necessary to justify sixteen noble districts.

The Chapter was abolished by the French administration in February 1793. After a brief recovery under the Austrian restoration, it definitively ceased its activities in June 1794.

Nowadays, in the procession of the Car d'Or procession, the canons are represented by two groups of extras, one in 16th century choir dress, the other in 18th century. These extras also participate in the ceremonies of descent and ascent of the shrine, during the festivities related to the ducasse.

Canonesses benefited from prebends (income related to their office) as well as many privileges. This is how they were able to finance the construction of the collegiate church, which was their personal church, which only became a parish church after the revolutionary period.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
The treasure of the collegiate church - various liturgical objects and ancient reliquaries - is located in an annex, to access it, you have to go through a small door that opens onto the transept. It can be visited from May to September.
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  • Collégiale Sainte Waudru
    The collegiate church of Sainte-Waudru de Mons is a Catholic religious building in the Brabant Gothic style dedicated to Saint Waudru, the patron saint of the city of Mons. Begun in 1450, the work stopped in 1691, without the church ever being completed.

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.