Saint Anna's Church () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Sint-Anna-Pede Sint-Anna-Pede is a village in Itterbeek, Belgium, which is a deelgemeente of Dilbeek. It gets its name from the Pedebeek, the stream that flows through the village.Text on the Sint-Anna Church and the village, in Dutch Sint-Anna-Pede was already ...

, in the municipality of

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-A ...

, Belgium, built around 1250. It is depicted in the painting ''

The Blind Leading the Blind ''The Blind Leading the Blind'', ''Blind'', or ''The Parable of the Blind'' () is a painting by the Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Netherlandish Renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, completed in 1568. Executed in Glue-size, d ...

'' by

Pieter Breughel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder ( , ; ; – 9 September 1569) was among the most significant artists of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaking, printmaker, known for his landscape art, landscape ...

History

Saint Anna's Church was built around 1250. Founded by the

Beguine The Beguines () and the Beghards () were Christianity, Christian laity, lay religious orders that were active in Western Europe, particularly in the Low Countries, in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in monasticism, semi-monastic ...

convent of

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. It is mentioned in ("at Pede near the new chapel"). The nave of the church was erected in the 16th century. In the 17th century, the church was renovated in a Gothic style, with the addition of a rib vault. The church and surroundings were protected in 1948.

Architecture

Saint Anna's Church is built in

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, combined with layers of bricks. It has both Romanesque and Gothic architectural characteristics. The church furniture includes a wooden

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

with an image of the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd (, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 and Ezeki ...

(18th century), statues of Saint Joseph (18th century) and a wooden statue of Saint Anna with her daughter Maria (17th century). The church is situated in the middle of a former cemetery and is surrounded by a copse of trees.

''The Blind Leading the Blind''

Saint Anna's Church is depicted in the painting ''

'' by

. The painting shows six blind men walking past the Pedebeek stream. The first one has already fallen and is lying in the stream. The second one tries to keep his balance, but starts to fall anyway. In his fall, he drags the third one with him. The last three have yet to fall. According to a local legend, the painter lived at the time in the small castle that is also represented in the painting.

Bibliography

* Article by Toerisme Dilbeek: ** Summary/abstract: ** Full version:

References

{{coord, 50.83131, N, 4.23364, E, region:BE_type:landmark, display=title Dilbeek Roman Catholic churches in Belgium Churches in Flemish Brabant