Sint-Walburgakerk
Historic church · Oudenaarde · Flanders
Checked
Oudenaarde's Sint-Walburgakerk is a collegiate church honoring the city's patron saint, its 88-meter tower (built 1498-1624) a landmark visible for miles around. The church combines a 12th-century Tournai-stone choir with a 16th-century Gothic nave, blending two distinct building periods. Inside, richly decorated in Baroque style, it holds sculpture, polychrome statues, and tapestries. Its historic carillon marked its 500th anniversary in 2010.
The church was pillaged bare during the Iconoclastic Fury of 1566, which is why nearly everything inside today, the altars, the sculpture, the tapestries, was made in the two centuries that followed rather than before it. One of its fourteen chapels is dedicated to Saint Barbara, patron saint of weavers, a fitting dedication in a town that built its wealth on tapestry making. War came back twice: shelling during the Battle of the Scheldt on 1 November 1918 wrecked the tower and choir and left the stained glass never fully restored, and further damage in the Second World War meant repairs dragged on until 1949. A full restoration of the building was completed in 2019.
What you see
The tower's Baroque cap, added in 1620, was meant to carry a slender spire above it, but a lightning strike burned that spire away in 1804 and it was never rebuilt, leaving the tower's crown blunter than its Gothic body below.
Practical
Open to visitors on select afternoons, Tuesday through Sunday, from April to September, with longer hours in summer; guided tours can be booked outside those times.
church towercarillontapestry heritagewar damage
Cafés nearby
Climbs, views & nature nearby
History & landmarks nearby
Climbs nearby
Common questions
- Why stop at Sint-Walburgakerk on a bike ride?
- Oudenaarde's Sint-Walburgakerk is a collegiate church honoring the city's patron saint, its 88-meter tower (built 1498-1624) a landmark visible for miles around. The church combines a 12th-century Tournai-stone choir with a 16th-century Gothic nave, blending two distinct building periods. Inside, richly decorated in Baroque style, it holds sculpture, polychrome statues, and tapestries. Its historic carillon marked its 500th anniversary in 2010.
- Where is Sint-Walburgakerk?
- Sint-Walburgakerk is in Oudenaarde, Flanders (Belgium).