Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp)

The Cathedral of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been fully completed. It was constructed in the Gothic style by architects Jan and Pieter Appelmans. It contains a number of significant works by the Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, as well as paintings by artists such as Otto van Veen, Jacob de Backer and Marten de Vos. The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Belgium, with its tower rising 123 meters (404 ft) over the city. The belfry of the cathedral is included in the Belfries of Belgium and France entry in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The first Christian missionaries arrived in the 7th century. The first parish church dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul was constructed in the current Sint Michielsstraat. After the Viking raids in 836, the church was damaged and restored, and subsequently dedicated to Saint Michael. In the 10th century, a group of twelve secular canons were connected to this church. They would dedicate all of their time to the Liturgy of the Hours, and mainly opposed the beliefs of the established Roman Catholic Church. Upon hearing of their dissident behavior, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai (to which Antwerp belonged at the time) then sent Norbert of Xanten to discipline them. In 1124, Norbert of Xanten convinced four of the secular canons to start a norbertine abbey and thus the parish church became a monastery church, known as St. Michael's Abbey. The eight other secular canons preferred to keep their freedom and moved to a different location, a chapel dedicated to Our Lady, the Virgin Mary. This chapel became Antwerp's new parish church, and was located between the Saint Michael residential area, and an older settlement around the area of Het Steen.

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).