St. Peter's Church, Leuven, Gothic collegiate church on Grote Markt, Leuven, Belgium
St. Peter's Church is a Gothic church on Grote Markt in Leuven, Belgium, built with a cross-shaped floor plan and unfinished towers. It sits directly across from the Town Hall, and together these buildings form the center of the old city.
Construction began in 1425 under several architects including Sulpitius van Vorst and Jan II Keldermans, with building work continuing for more than 50 years. The extended building period and changing leadership shaped how the structure was finally completed.
Leuven residents are nicknamed "Pietermannen" or "Peetermannen" after the church's patron, the apostle Peter. The chapel of the Brewers' Guild, a 15th-century chapel, holds a marble altar made in 1756 by the Antwerp sculptor Hendrik Danco, which replaced a retable depicting the life of Saint Arnoldus. Beside it hangs an 18th-century painting by Balthazar Beschey showing Saints Job, Arnoldus and Gislenus.
The church stands on the Grote Markt, directly opposite the Town Hall, so it is reached on foot from anywhere in the old centre. The chancel and ambulatory have housed a museum collection since 1998, and the Romanesque crypt below the chancel is open to the public. The main entrance is on the southern transept side, where the jacquemart rings above the door.
The church's most ambitious project failed: in 1505 Joost Matsys planned three freestone towers, the central one about 170 m tall, which would have made it the world's tallest structure. Unstable ground and lack of funds stopped the work in 1541, and collapses between 1570 and 1604 lowered the tower further. Matsys's wooden maquette of the design is kept in the southern transept.
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