Sint-Katarinakerk, Catholic parish church in Assebroek, Belgium.
Sint-Katarinakerk is a Catholic parish church in Assebroek built of reddish-brown brick, with a tall square tower on the right and a lower body on the left. The tower has a louvered opening near the top, a projecting belfry section and a round clock face with gold numerals. The lower body has a steep triangular gable topped with a small cross and a polygonal projection with a red tiled roof.
A church stood on the Sint-Katarina parish site from 1270, near the corner of today's Vestingstraat and Edward de Denestraat. It was demolished in 1382 during the conflict with Ghent and rebuilt around 1400 on roughly the same plan. In 1578 it was torn down again, like other large buildings outside the city walls, for strategic reasons during the religious wars. The parish survived without a fixed church until the early 19th century; after its re-establishment in 1910, a design by Alfons Van Coillie was approved in 1913, but construction only began on 25 August 1933 and the church was consecrated in 1934.
The parish hall Rustenhove, built in 1946 on part of the boys' school playground, measures 23 by 14 metres and was equipped for theatre and film performances, becoming the meeting point of all parish associations. The church's bells carry names: the 900 kg Sint-Katarinaklok arrived from Tellin in Luxembourg on 12 May 1935, and in 1960 the parish received the Mariaklok (1050 kg) and Sint-Annaklok (450 kg) from Tournai.
The church stands in the Sint-Katarina parish of Assebroek, in the southern part of Bruges. In 1974 the city cut a new access road beside the church, partly through the presbytery garden, to link the newer district behind it with the parish centre; the church square was also improved at that time.
The main bell, named Sint-Katarina, weighs 900 kg and arrived from Tellin in Luxembourg on 12 May 1935. Two more bells followed in 1960 for the parish's fiftieth anniversary: the Mariaklok of 1050 kg and the Sint-Annaklok of 450 kg, both from Tournai.
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