The St. Charles Borromeo Church on Hendrik Conscienceplein in Antwerp is a parish church and former Jesuit church in Baroque style named after Carlo Borromeo (1538-1584), archbishop (1560-1584) of the archdiocese of Milan.
History tells [edit | edit source] that the church was designed by François d'Aguilon and Pieter Huyssens, who, as is customary with Jesuit churches, were both members of the order. The church was built between 1615 and 1621 on top of the then Ankerrui (not to be confused with the current one) before it connected to the Minderbroedersrui.
The church was originally dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. After the order was dissolved in 1773, the church was rededicated, this time to Carolus Borromeus. After being used for religious education for some time, the building has been used as a parish church since 1803.
The church is a typical product of the Counter-Reformation, in which the Catholic Church tried to re-engage the people with pomp and circumstance, and in which the Jesuits played a leading role. The facade is inspired by, among others, that of the Gesù Church in Rome, the mother church of the Jesuits, and is eight metres higher than the church itself. The church has a three-aisled, basilica layout. Galleries are located above the side aisles. The choir is marked by a tower.
Important contributions to the decoration of the church were made by Peter Paul Rubens, who provided both paintings and sculptures. Between 1816 and 1830, King William I wanted to furnish this building in a simplified form according to the Calvinist principle, stripped of its baroque splendor and magnificence, as a Dutch Reformed Church. Mayor Florent van Ertborn managed to dissuade him from this plan and offered him the church of the Brabantsche Olijfberg in the Winkelstraat, which had already been stripped by the French.
During the restoration of the 1980s, the church was redecorated in the baroque style. The painting above the main altar is changed three times a year using an old mechanism, on Ash Wednesday, Easter Monday and in August.
The church has an exit that leads into the Antwerp Ruien. The purpose of this passage is still uncertain.