Sint-Niklaaskerk, Church building in Oostduinkerke, Belgium

Sint-Niklaaskerk is a church building in Oostduinkerke with a distinctive yellow brick facade and a central square tower flanked by arched walkways. Corner buttresses support the walls, and the structure occupies a substantial plot of land in its neighborhood.

The first church stood inland, where the fishing museum now is; wall remains of a Romanesque fishermen's church from around 1200 were found there in 2005. That church was damaged after the 1475 dike breach and during five sackings between 1566 and 1793, bombed on 22 June 1915, then burned out by an incendiary bomb in May 1940. Jean Gilson's replacement was built in 1952 on a different site between the village and the sea.

The choir screen is decorated with an image of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of skippers and fishermen. The Stations of the Cross are set on ceramic tiles, and a figure of Oostduinkerke's horse fisherman with model boats recalls that link to the sea. Since 2008 Oscar Jespers's Monument to the Fallen, a variation on the Pietà, stands beside the church.

The church stands on the Witte Burg dune area between Oostduinkerke-Village and Oostduinkerke-Bains, a short walk from the fishing museum site where the first Romanesque church stood. A covered square gallery links the 38-metre west tower to the nave, so you can walk around the inner courtyard. The Monument to the Fallen by Oscar Jespers has stood beside the church since 2008.

The 13.5-metre crucified Christ on the tower weighs four tonnes and is the largest cast terracotta sculpture ever made. It was designed by the Czech artist Arnost Gause, who also made the 3.5-metre crucifix above the altar inside.