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

Hotton Hotton (; ) 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. The mun ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. 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 Church architecture, ecclesiastical architectural element, which serves as a receptacle for baptismal water used for baptism, as a part of Christian initiation for both rites of Infant baptism, infant and Believer's bapti ...

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 religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

in the

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

.FTLB
, consulted 7 April 2013 The church was completely destroyed during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

(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.

References

Hotton Buildings and structures in Luxembourg (Belgium) Churches in Wallonia 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