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Address Lange Nieuwstraat 73, 2000 Antwerpen, Belgium Architects Herman de Waghemakere, Rombout II Keldermans, Henri Blomme, Léonard Blomme Burials Peter Paul Rubens, Adriaan de Witte Similar St Paul's Church - Antwerp, Saint Carolus Borromeu, St Andrew's Church - A, Cathedral of Our Lady, Rockox House | ||
St. James' Church (Dutch: Sint-Jacobskerk) in Antwerp, Belgium, is built on the site of a hostel for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. The present building is the work of the Waghemakere family and Rombout Keldermans, in Brabantine Gothic style. The church contains the grave of Rubens in the eastern chapel.
Contents
History
From 1431 on, even before the church was built, the chapel on this site was a stop on the route to the burial place of Saint James the Great in Santiago de Compostela. In 1476 the chapel became a parish church so plans were made to replace the modest building with a large church. Fifteen years later, in 1491, construction of the late Gothic church started. It was not completed until 1656, when Baroque architecture was in vogue. Fortunately throughout all those years the architects closely followed the original Gothic design, hence the consistent Gothic exterior. The interior however is decorated in Baroque style.
The plans at the start of the construction, in a time when Antwerp was on its way to becoming one of the most important economic hubs in Europe, were very ambitious. The church was to feature just one tower, but this was to be about 150 m (490 ft) tall, well above the 123 m (404 ft) of the two planned towers of Antwerp Cathedral.
Unfortunately, due to the decline of the city from the mid 16th century on, financial problems eventually caused construction to be halted after the tower had reached just one third of its planned height.
Although the original interior was destroyed during the iconoclastic storms of 1566 and 1581, the Baroque 17th century interior is well preserved thanks to a priest who pledged allegiance to the French revolutionaries, who had just invaded the city. In return, he was rewarded by being permitted to choose one church in Antwerp which would not be plundered, and chose St. James', thus saving the interior. Many of the original stained-glass windows were unfortunately destroyed during World War II.
Among the Baroque interior decorations are the carved wooden choir stalls, created between 1658 and 1570, the opulent main altar (1685) and the communion rails of the holy chapel (1695). The central pulpit was created in 1675 by Lodewijk Willemssens.
Organs
The old organ has a rich history, it was played by many famous people: amnongstv them Henry Bredemers. The Choir organ, built by J.B. Forceville in 1727, is also original, including the still functioning mechanical action. The hew grand organ was built in 1884 by Anneesens, in Romantic style.
Burials
In the 16th, 17th and 18th century St. James' Church was the parish church of Antwerp's prominent citizens, several of whom built private burial chapels in the church. In the church numerous important important gravestones are still inside, most belonging to the nobility. There are more then 1300 graves inside the church, and dates of burials of more then 4500 persons. Some graves are of very high quality, famous is the grave of Francisco Marcos de Velasco y Alvear made by Pieter Scheemaeckers, Ludovicus Anthoine, made by Kerrickx and Henrica Carolina Adriana Josepha van Cornelissen and Eugenia Catherina van Ertborn both sculpted in marble by Guillaume Geefs. The most famous is that of Antwerp's renowned painter Peter Paul Rubens, completed five years after his death in 1640. The painting above Rubens' tomb is by the master himself.