Sint-Annakerk, Protected church building in Ghent, Belgium.
Sint-Annakerk is a Rundbogenstil church on Sint-Annaplein in Ghent, built from 1853 in pale grey stone. Its gabled central section has a rose window above a round-arched portal with a statue niche; stepped buttresses with pinnacles flank it, and pointed-arch windows with tracery stand in the side bays. Inside, the vault ribs and the edges of the trefoil windows are cast iron, and a Polonceau steel truss supports the roof.
The church replaced the 1644 Sint-Annakapel in the Lange Violettestraat after the population of Ghent's southern districts grew following the 1837 Ghent–Mechelen railway. Louis Roelandt designed it in 1851; after his resignation in 1855, Jacques Van Hoecke carried out a simplified version from 1853. Leopold I laid the first stone on 1 September 1853, and the unfinished church was consecrated on 12 June 1866 by Bishop Hendrik-Frans Bracq. The planned west tower was never built.
The church replaced the 1644 Sint-Annakapel in the Lange Violettestraat and is named for Saint Anne. Inside, frescoes by Théodore-Joseph Canneel, finished after his death by Théophile Lybaert, have a Byzantine look, alongside coloured paving, stained glass and dark blue vaults dotted with stars. Since 2023 Delhaize holds a 99-year lease to open a neighbourhood supermarket, wine bar and restaurant.
The church is located in central Ghent and is easily accessible on foot within a residential neighborhood. Visitors should be aware that access may be limited during active services and opening times can vary on different days.
The foundations were built with stones salvaged from the demolished Spanish Castle (Spanjaardenkasteel). At the 1853 first-stone ceremony, a lead casket was walled in holding the silver trowel used, a goose quill and writing pens, sealed under a copper plate with the names of those present.
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