St. Peter's Church was founded here in 1268. In the centuries that followed, the church had to endure a lot: fires, wars, storms and lightning strikes. The church was eventually restored in the second half of the 20th century and has been a national monument since 1966. Since 2013 it has had the status of a basilica.
St. Peter's Basilica is not the oldest church in Oirschot: that is the Mariakerk on the Vrijthof. That church, which was a collegiate church, became too small, but could not be expanded. That is why a new church was built in 1268, St. Peter's Church. This became the new collegiate church. However, it burned down in 1462, causing the loss of many valuable documents and works of art. After this, they started working energetically on building the new church, but there was often a lack of money. The new church was not completed until 1515.
In the Middle Ages it was common to build houses next to the church. In 1566 there was a major fire in Oirschot and some of these houses also burned down. By order of King Philip II, these were not allowed to be rebuilt for safety reasons. In 1623 the remaining houses burned down and these were also not allowed to be rebuilt. Since then the church has been free again.
The high spire of the church was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1627, and the tower has been stubby ever since.
From 1648-1799 the church was Protestant. The Catholics had had a barn church on Nieuwstraat since 1672. When the Catholics got their church back, the tower remained in the hands of the municipality. The neglected church was provided with a new interior and restored in 1887.
However, the tower continued to deteriorate and partially collapsed in 1904. The parish then received the tower back, and through a fundraising campaign it was able to restore the tower. On October 2, 1944, during the liberation, the church was shelled by the Allies. This caused the roof and tower to collapse and much of the interior was lost. The recovery lasted from 1945-1952. In 1962, the emergency roof on the tower was restored to its post-1627 situation, and in 1966 the church was classified as a national monument.
Drawing of the side of St. Peter's Basilica
Side aisle (partially). James van Gils. July 1892.
The St. Peter's Church was awarded the honorary title of basilica by the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship on February 18, 2013. The elevation to basilica by Bishop Hurkmans took place on June 23, 2013.
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