St. Peter's Church, Melreux (french: Église Saint-Pierre de Melreux) is a Roman Catholic church on the ''Avenue de la Gare'' in Melreux in the municipality of

Hotton Hotton (; wa, Houton) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. The municipality lies 12 kilometers from Marche-en-Famenne in the Ardennes and has more than 5,400 inhabitants. The river Ourthe crosses Hotton. ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The present church, whose tower is flanked by four turrets, dates from 1671, although the 12th-century Romanesque

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

and medieval tombstones attest to the existence of an earlier building. The interior furnishings include some beautiful paintings, including one of Mount Golgotha attributed to the artist Riga, and an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

in the

Louis XIII style The Louis XIII style or ''Louis Treize'' was a fashion in French art and architecture, especially affecting the visual and decorative arts. Its distinctness as a period in the history of French art has much to do with the Regent, regency under w ...

. The church was completely destroyed during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

(winter of 1944–45) by the

mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...

of the German forces, who were fighting the oncoming Americans. Most of the interior was saved. The church was rebuilt after the war and since 1989 has had the status of a protected monument. Information from Dutch Wikipedia , consulted 7 April 2013

References

Hotton Churches in Luxembourg (Belgium) 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Belgium Roman Catholic churches completed in 1671 1671 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Europe-RC-church-stub