St. Anne's Church, also called Munsterkerk, is a partly Romanesque, partly Gothic church in Aldeneik, Belgium, Limburg, near Maaseik. Originally built as a monastery church, later a collegiate church dedicated to Our Lady, the church was used as a parish church from the 16th century, dedicated to Our Lady and Saint Peter. From the 18th century onwards the church adopted the patrocinium of Saint Anna, the mother of Mary.
According to tradition, the sisters Harlindis and Relindis founded the Benedictine monastery Eike (or monastery of Aldeneik) around 730 on the domain of their father Adelard, near the Meuse and not far from the abbey of Susteren, which had been founded a few years earlier. The Normans destroyed the nunnery in the 9th century. The church was rebuilt in the third quarter of the 9th century. In order to prevent the abbey's goods from falling to local noblemen, Emperor Otto I donated the domain to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The prince-bishop founded a chapter of secular canons there around the middle of the 10th century. The Romanesque church, which still partly exists today, was built in the second half of the 12th century as a collegiate church. A smaller parish church, intended for the common people, was built next to it. At the beginning of the Eighty Years' War, the chapter of Our Lady was moved to Maaseik by order of the prince-bishop of Liège. In 1571, the canons marched in solemn procession, carrying the relics, to the Saint Catherine's Church in Maaseik, which became the new chapter church. The old chapter church of Aldeneik was reduced in size and converted into a parish church. The old parish church of Aldeneik was demolished, as were the cloister and other chapter buildings. The oldest, largely original part of the former chapter church is the 12th-century nave. The polygonal Gothic choir dates from the 13th or 14th century. The side aisles were probably rebuilt around 1850 by the Maaseik architect Adolph Leemans, after they had been demolished in the 16th or 17th century, probably because the church had become too large due to its change of function. The westwork and the tower were also extensively restored in the 19th century, making it virtually impossible to determine what they looked like before. In 2010, another major restoration was completed, during which the church furniture was also renewed.
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