Notre-Dame de Messines Church

The Recolette church was built in 1803 for the practice of worship in the parish and later became 'Eglise Notre-Dame de Messines'.

Source: VisitMons

From Saint-Nicolas to Notre-Dame de Messines
The Church of Our Lady of Messines was originally called the Church of Saint-Nicolas en Bertaimont. First dedicated to Saint-Nicolas, the patron saint of merchants, it was later called Notre-Dame de Messines, because devotion to this cult was growing from the beginning of the 17th century. painting of the Blessed Virgin in the cemetery surrounding the church. This place then became an important place of pilgrimage, and miracles were observed. The painting was then placed on the high altar in 1622.
A turbulent history
The history of the Church and the parish of Notre-Dame de Messines is not a long quiet river. It began in the 12th century with a chapel dedicated to Saint-Nicolas, in what is now rue du Trieu. From the 13th century, the parish of Saint-Nicolas en Bertaimont was created inside the ramparts, on the site of the current parking lot of the Dexia bank. After being bombed in 1691 and then repaired, the so-called Messines church was closed and sold a century later. The church was once again in place of the old Récollets church, located in the same rue de Bertaimont, which is therefore its current location.
The Ducasse de Messines
The Ducasse de Messines takes place every year, on the Sunday closest to March 25. Originally a pilgrimage date, today it is one of the city's most popular patronal festivals. Nowadays, this floral event lasts for a week!
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