Kapel van de Heilige Eik, Religious chapel in Oirschot, Netherlands
Kapel van de Heilige Eik is a chapel in the Beerze valley near Oirschot, featuring a gabled roof and a 15th-century arcade element originally from the Sint-Petruskerk. Inside there is a Baroque altar, and the surrounding procession park contains additional smaller chapels and devotional sculptures.
A first chapel was built here in 1606, funded by Canon Johannes Daems after his recovery from illness. The current building dates from 1854 and replaced the earlier structures that had stood on this spot.
The chapel takes its name from a holy oak tree under which shepherds are said to have discovered a statue of Mary along the Beerze riverbanks. Pilgrims still gather here for processions, especially around Marian feast days.
The procession park around the chapel is open to walk through freely, and there is no set route to follow. Visiting on a weekday tends to be quieter, which makes it easier to look around at your own pace.
The 15th-century arcade element inside the chapel was not made for this building but saved from the Sint-Petruskerk in Oirschot when that church was demolished. It was then fitted into the new structure, making the chapel a keeper of a fragment from another building entirely.
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