St Aubin's Cathedral,

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

, the only cathedral in

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 ...

in academic Late Baroque style. It was the only church built in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

as a cathedral after 1559, when most of the dioceses of the Netherlands were reorganized. It is classified as part of ''Wallonia's Major Heritage'' by the

Walloon Region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

History

The cathedral was founded as a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

in 1047 by

Albert II of Namur Albert II of Namur was Count of Namur from the death of his elder brother Robert II to his death in 1067. They were the sons of Albert I, and Ermengarde, daughter of duke Charles of Lower Lorraine. Biography In 1037, Albert participated in the ...

. The first dean, Frederick of Lorraine, brother-in-law of Albert II, about 1050 secured from

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a portion of the head of Saint Albanus, to whose patronage the collegiate church was dedicated. In 1057 Frederick became pope under the name of

Stephen IX Pope Stephen IX ( la, Stephanus, christened Frederick; c. 1020 – 29 March 1058) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 3 August 1057 to his death in 29 March 1058. He was a member of the Ardenne-Verdun family, ...

. In 1209,

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 J ...

formally took the church of St Aubin under his protection. The church became a cathedral by virtue of the papal bull of 12 May 1559 establishing the new bishoprics in the Low Countries, with the

Diocese of Namur The Diocese of Namur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province in the metropolita ...

created as a suffragan see of the

Archdiocese of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-He ...

. In the cathedral a marble plaque near the

high 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 paganis ...

conceals a casket containing the heart of Don Juan of Austria, governor of the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands was the Renaissance period fiefs in the Low Countries held by the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. The rule began in 1482, when the last House of Valois-Burgundy, Valois-Burgundy ruler of the Netherlands, Mary of Burgu ...

, who died in 1578; his body lies in the

Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up ...

near Madrid. Between 1751 and 1767 the cathedral was almost entirely rebuilt to Italianate designs of the Ticinese architect

Gaetano Matteo Pisoni Gaetano Matteo Pisoni (July 18, 1713 – March 4, 1782) was an Italian architect born at Ascona, who worked in a somewhat chilly academic Late Baroque manner that lies on the cusp of the latest Baroque classicising manner and Neoclassical archite ...

.St. Alban's cathedral
from ''Belgian View'' accessed 31 March 2013 A 13th-century tower at the west end of the church is the main remnant from before the rebuilding. In 1908, a Belgian architect,

Charles Ménart Charles Jean Ménart (1876 – 7 April 1956) was a Belgian architect who worked in Scotland in the early 20th century and specialised in designing Roman Catholic churches in the Baroque Revival style. Early life He was born in Leuze-en-Hainaut, ...

used the cathedral as inspiration for a church he designed, St Aloysius Church, in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

.''St Aloysius''
Scotland Churches Trust
Retrieved 28 January 2013

Interior

In the interior, there is an ornamented frieze, carved with swags of fruit and flowers between the

Corinthian capitals The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

runs in an unbroken band entirely round the church. All colour is avoided, replaced by architectural enrichments and the

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s in the

pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

s of the dome. The interior contains works of art that include paintings by

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

Jacob Jordaens Jacob (Jacques) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and tapestry designer known for his history paintings, genre scenes and portraits. After Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, he was the leading Fle ...

and

Jacques Nicolaï Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

and student of

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

. There is also an old, Romanesque baptismal font.

Gallery

File:2h Namur 13.jpg, Dome and vaulting File:Cathedral Saint-Aubain 1.JPG, South side File:Cathédrale Saint Aubain vue en hauteur.JPG, Skyline view File:Kathedraal Namen.jpg, The nave File:Namur-Cathédrale Saint-Aubain - coupole baroque.jpg, Dome interior File:Namur-Cathédrale Saint-Aubain - intérieur.JPG, Interior File:Namur-Cathédrale Saint-Aubain - la chaire.JPG, Pulpit File:Namur-Cathédrale Saint-Aubain - l´autel du côté.jpg, Chapel File:Namur-Cathédrale Saint-Aubain-orgue.jpg, Organ

References

External links

Cathedral websiteBelgian View
{{Authority control Wallonia's Major Heritage Roman Catholic cathedrals in Belgium Churches in Namur (province) Buildings and structures in Namur (city) 1047 establishments in Europe