St John the Baptist's church, Ghent

The Church of St John the Baptist (Sint-Jan Baptistkerk) was a Gothic Revival parish church and seat of a deanery in the Brugse Poort neighbourhood of Ghent, Belgium, an industrial area that arose as part of the city's 19th-century expansion.

The initial building, to designs by J. Van Hoecke, was completed in 1860 and collapsed in 1863. It was rebuilt to adapted designs and completed in 1866.[1] The church was consecrated on 7 October 1866.

The interior was also Gothic Revival, with altars, choir stalls, confessionals and communion rail probably designed by Jean-Baptiste Bethune.[1] The original murals were removed in the 1970s.[1]

In April 1898 the parish church became the seat of a new deanery.[2]

In 2016 the building was deconsecrated and put up for sale.[3]

For almost 30 years, from 1888 until 1917, the parish priest was Emilius Seghers, who became the 25th bishop of Ghent.[2] The square in front of the church is named Emilius Seghersplein in his honour.

References
  1. "Parochiekerk Sint-Jan-Baptist". erfgoed.net. Flemish organization for Immovable Heritage. 2020.
  2. Jan Art, "Seghers, Emilius Joannes Gerardus Maria Josephus", Nouvelle Biographie Nationale, vol. 1 (Brussels, 1988), pp. 305-306.
  3. "Te koop: de kerk van de Brugse Poort". Het Nieuwsblad. 17 May 2016.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.