Sacred places in Belgium: temples, churches, shrines and mosques

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Catholicism · Antwerp (Antwerpen) · 1352 (khởi công), ngưng xây năm 1521Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp)Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Cathedral of Our Lady Antwerp, Kathedraal van Antwerpen, Nhà thờ Đức Bà Antwerpen

The largest Gothic church in the Low Countries, begun in 1352, whose north tower at about 123 meters is the tallest church tower in Belgium and was inscribed by UNESCO in 1999. Inside its seven-aisled nave hang four major paintings by Rubens, including The Raising of the Cross and The Descent from the Cross.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (the cathedral tower is part of the Belfries of Belgium and France, 1999)Groenplaats 21, 2000 Antwerpen

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Photo: FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Antwerp Province, Flanders · Khởi dựng khoảng sau năm 1200 và thánh hiến giai đoạn một năm 1312; xây dựng ngọn tháp chuông khổng lồ từ năm 1452 tới năm 1520 theo đồ án gia tộc Keldermans (đạt độ cao 97,28 mét trên thiết kế 167 mét); nâng lên hàng nhà thờ chính tòa năm 1559St. Rumbold's Cathedral, MechelenSint-Romboutskathedraal, Cathedrale Saint-Rombaut de Malines, Metropolitan and Primatial Cathedral of Saint Rumbold

The metropolitan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels and primatial seat of Belgium, constructed from the early thirteenth century in Brabantine Gothic style to enshrine the relics of Saint Rumbold, celebrated for its flat-topped 97.28-meter UNESCO World Heritage tower housing two 49-bell carillons and Anthony van Dyck's masterpiece of Christ on the Cross.

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels (Primatial See of Belgium), Papal Minor Basilica, and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Belfries of Belgium and France, inscribed in 1999, ID 943)Onder den Toren 12, 2800 Mechelen, Antwerp Province, Kingdom of Belgium

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Photo: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Islam · Brussels-Capital Region · Nguyên là Đình Triển lãm Phương Đông (Pavillon Oriental) do kiến trúc sư Ernest Van Humbeeck xây dựng năm 1879 tới 1880 cho Triển lãm Quốc gia Bruxelles; Vua Baudouin trao quyền sử dụng năm 1967 để cải tạo thành Đại thánh đường Hồi giáo; kiến trúc sư người Tunisia Mongi Boubaker thiết kế trùng tu và chính thức khánh thành năm 1978Great Mosque of BrusselsGrande Mosquee de Bruxelles, Grote Moskee van Brussel, Cinquantenaire Park Mosque, Former Oriental Pavilion of 1880

The oldest and largest mosque in Brussels situated at the northwestern corner of Cinquantenaire Park in the heart of the European Quarter, originally built in 1880 by architect Ernest Van Humbeeck as the Neo-Moorish Oriental Pavilion for the Brussels National Exhibition to display Emile Wauters's monumental Panorama of Cairo, and transformed into a grand mosque by Tunisian architect Mongi Boubaker in 1978.

Central Friday Mosque of the Brussels-Capital Region and Protected Historical Monument of Brussels (listed on November 18, 1976 within the Cinquantenaire Park ensemble)Parc du Cinquantenaire 14 (Jubelpark 14), 1000 Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Kingdom of Belgium

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Photo: Szilas, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Hainaut Province, Wallonia · Hình thành trên nền vương cung thánh đường Kitô giáo sơ kỳ thế kỷ 6 và thế kỷ 9; xây dựng gian giữa Romanesque, cánh ngang hai đầu bán nguyệt và cụm năm tháp chuông từ khoảng năm 1110 tới năm 1171 (thánh hiến ngày 9 tháng 5 năm 1171); tái thiết cung thánh theo phong cách Gothic Rayonnant từ năm 1243 tới năm 1255 dưới thời Giám mục Walter de MarvisCathedral of Our Lady of TournaiCathedrale Notre-Dame de Tournai, Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal van Doornik, Cathedral of the Five Towers

A monumental UNESCO World Heritage masterpiece of medieval sacred architecture rising above the Scheldt River in the ancient city of Tournai, uniting a twelfth-century three-tiered Romanesque nave of blue-gray Tournaisis limestone, an apsidal transept crowned by five 83-meter bell towers, and a soaring thirteenth-century Rayonnant Gothic choir housing the famed thirteenth-century reliquary shrines of Our Lady and Saint Eleutherius.

Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tournai, UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed on December 2, 2000, ID 1009), and Exceptional Heritage of WalloniaPlace de l'Eveche 1, 7500 Tournai, Hainaut Province, Kingdom of Belgium

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Photo: JackyM59, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · West Flanders Province, Flanders · Khởi dựng từ năm 1134 tới năm 1157 bởi Bá tước vùng Vlaanderen là Thierry xứ Alsace (Diederik van den Elzas) để tôn trí thánh tích Thánh Basilius và Thánh tích Máu Thánh rước về từ Giêrusalem ngày 7 tháng 4 năm 1150; nhà nguyện tầng trên cải tạo theo lối Gothic cuối thế kỷ 15 và phục dựng Tân Gothic thế kỷ 19 bởi William Curtis Brangwyn cùng Louis DelacenserieBasilica of the Holy Blood, BrugesHeilig-Bloedbasiliek, Basilique du Saint-Sang, Chapel of Saint Basil and Shrine of the Precious Blood on Burg Square

A renowned double chapel situated on Burg Square in the historic heart of Bruges, comprising the austere twelfth-century Romanesque lower Chapel of Saint Basil and the richly polychromed nineteenth-century Gothic Revival upper Chapel of the Holy Blood, which enshrines the revered rock-crystal phial of the Precious Blood of Christ carried through the city each Ascension Day in the UNESCO-listed Procession of the Holy Blood.

Papal Minor Basilica (proclaimed by Pope Pius XI in 1923), part of the Historic Centre of Bruges (UNESCO World Heritage Site, 2000, ID 996), and seat of the Procession of the Holy Blood (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2009, ID 00263)Burg 13, 8000 Bruges (Brugge), West Flanders Province, Kingdom of Belgium

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Photo: KL KL, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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This library is open and free, and it records its own progress in public. Three things you can help with today:

Name a place we missedA founding temple, a church, a mosque, a shrine the table above does not have. Send the name, the province, and one line on why it belongs.
Send a photograph with an open licenceNothing is published without both the photographer and the licence. Your own photograph with your permission, or an openly licensed one, are both welcome.
Report an errorA wrong date, a wrong original name, a wrong lineage, a wrong address. A library that is wrong once is not trusted again, so corrections are very welcome.

Write to thayungkhiem@gmail.com

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24/10/2026Completed three major initiatives on the same day: (1) Verified primary international sources and published the remaining 199 full English editions across 192 countries and territories, officially completing Stage D with 100% bilingual Vietnamese and English coverage across the entire library. (2) Visually verified and published 35 openly licensed Wikimedia Commons photographs for 22 sites in Vietnam and 13 international sanctuaries. (3) Authored 100 new bilingual sacred place monographs with real photographs for Stage C across 25 countries and territories (South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Canada and Mexico), expanding each from 1 to 5 places and bringing the library to 761 sacred places.
29/09/2026Officially opened the doors of Hall of Myriad Paths to readers worldwide as a living spiritual library that grows every day. On the same day, authored 60 new Stage A sacred place monographs across 60 countries in the Nordic and Baltic regions, the Balkans, the Gulf, Central Asia, European microstates, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean (including Roskilde Cathedral, Hallgrímskirkja, the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Ostrog Monastery, Malé Friday Mosque, Sulayman-Too, Old Orhei, the Temple in the Sea and Ambohimanga), while verifying and publishing 59 openly licensed photographs for the second and third batches.
28/09/2026In the Main Hall, transformed 174 sacred symbols of faiths and branches into raised 3D forms so visitors can select their own tradition before making an offering, alongside a public record of milestones. In the Places section, authored 30 new Stage A monographs across 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America (including St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Rila Monastery, Svetitskhoveli, Etchmiadzin, al-Qarawiyyin, the Great Mosque of Djenné, Namugongo and the Basilica of Luján).

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?Quick Questions

Why are there no opening hours or ticket prices

Because they change constantly. A library that is wrong once about a practical detail loses its standing on everything else. Check with the place itself before you travel.

Where do the images come from

From Wikimedia Commons under open licences, each credited to its photographer, or photographed by UK MASTER ACADEMY. No image is published without both its author and its licence.

How were these places chosen

Four tests: it is officially listed as a heritage site, it belongs to a tradition this library covers, its site and orientation can be read in feng shui terms, and an openly licensed photograph exists.

Why is my country still grey

The library opens one country at a time, beginning with the countries that have the most readers, and within each country with its most significant places. A grey country is simply one whose turn has not come. Suggestions are welcome through the page of Master Ưng Khiêm.

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