Saint Begga Collegiate Church, Neoclassical collegiate church in Andenne, Belgium
Saint Begga Collegiate Church is a Neoclassical limestone church in Andenne, built 1770–1775 to designs by Laurent-Benoît Dewez. Its severe grey facade rises in two tiers: Ionic pilasters below, Corinthian pilasters above, framed by balustrades and pierced by a window between two statue-filled niches, crowned by a triangular pediment. The plan has a five-bay nave with two aisles, a high transept ending in polygonal apses, and a square four-level tower with a bell roof.
Saint Begga founded a monastery at Andenne in 692, on the advice of Pope Sergius I, and a chapter of canonesses grew around it; by the 11th century it had become a collegiate church. Seven churches, one per divine sign, stood walled together until the mid-18th century, when Empress Maria Theresa authorised their demolition. Their stone was reused for the present church, built 1770–1775 to designs by Laurent-Benoît Dewez, first architect of the Austrian Netherlands' governor.
The church keeps the 12th-century tomb of Saint Begga and a treasury in its annexes, arranged as a museum, with manuscripts, sculpture, textiles, silverwork, porcelain and funerary monuments from the 16th to the 20th century, including the Renaissance shrine of Saint Begga. A 1510 lectern, 18th-century confessionals and pulpit, and 17th-century stalls and paintings are also held here.
The church stands in the heart of Andenne, a short walk from the town centre on the Meuse. The treasury, arranged as a museum in the annexes, holds manuscripts, sculpture, textiles, silverware and the Renaissance shrine of Saint Begga. The building is a protected heritage property of Wallonia.
The church keeps the 12th-century tomb of Saint Begga, the 7th-century founder of Andenne's monastery. Its treasury, arranged as a museum in the annexes, holds the Renaissance reliquary of Saint Begga, manuscripts, sculpture, textiles, silverwork and funerary monuments from the 16th to the 20th century.
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