Notre Dame de la Chapelle

Notre Dame de la Chapelle (Our Lady of the Chapel) is a large Romanesque-Gothic church in Brussels.

Construction began on the church in 1210 and was completed by the end of the 13th century. It thus marks the period of transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles; the transept and choir are Romanesque-Gothic, while most of the remainder is in the Flamboyant Gothic style.

Several campaigns of restoration were undertaken in the 19th and 20th centuries.

A lovely work of architecture in itself, Notre Dame de la Chapelle is perhaps most notable as the burial place of Francois Anneessens (1660-1719), a Brussels hero who lost his head for campaigning for civil rights.

Anneessens was a champion of the freedom of the Belgian communes against the centralist rule of Belgium's Austrian masters. Condemned to death, he refused to plead for forgiveness, saying, "Never! I die innocent. May my death expiate my sins and be of service to my country." He was then beheaded in the Grand-Place.

A statue of Anneessens stands in the square named after him (place Anneessens) in the city center, and you'll find a commemorative plaque dedicated to him in Notre-Dame's Chapel of the Holy Sacrament.

Notre-Dame de la Chapelle is also the burial site of Pieter Brueghel the Elder and his wife; their epitaph is in one of the chapels.