Church of Our Lady ten Poel

This church is considered to be the cradle of Brabant High Gothic. The choir dates from 1358-1359. The floor plan and the portals, which were restored in 1913, are by Jan van Osy from Valenciennes. The three portals in the west facade are decorated with niches, the pedestals of which represent carved scenes from the Old and New Testaments and probably also from the building history of the church. The side aisles were built according to the plans of Jacob van Gobertingen (also called van Tienen) and Botso van Raetshoven (1383-1410). The transept and tower (1410-1438) were made by Sulpitius van Vorst, who was succeeded by Mathias de Layens at the end of the 15th century.After a fire, the 70-meter-high tower was crowned with a Baroque spire in 1654. In the first half of the 19th century, some renovations took place and the church was expanded with two side choirs and a sacristy. The furniture (altars and confessionals) are predominantly Baroque.Originally this church was a pilgrimage chapel, built in honor of Our Lady of the Poel. The miraculous statue, by Walter Pans, now stands above the high altar. The construction is also linked to a legend in which the Blessed Virgin and the now filled-in pool play a leading role. Only in 1802, this chapel became a full-fledged parish church. In 2002, the cross and rooster, which had disappeared from the tower for several decades, were replaced.Source: toerisme.tienen.be/o.l.v.-ten-poelkerk-grote-markt

Impressive, unfinished Gothic building of sandstone that demarcates one of the sides of the Grote Markt.The ground plan of the finished parts consists of a three-bay deep choir, flanked by extensions and ending in a seven-sided apse, a spacious transept crowned by a high tower and preceded by portals in the west. Choir built between 1358 and 1357 under the direction of the French architect Jean d'Oisy, who seems to have designed the plan in its entirety.Inventory of Immovable Heritage: Parish Church of Our Lady of the Poel, id.erfgoed.net/erfgoedobjecten/42839

Be sure to also check out the display cases with various objects and heritage pieces such as religious silver objects and statues with various representations of OLV and more. In the field of painting we note among others "The Holy Family" by Pieter Jozef Verhaghen, a painter born in Aarschot who worked in the style of Rubens and was able to travel to Italy at the expense of Maria Theresia of Austria to study the old masters.