Borgerhout, Saint John the Evangelist church

Neo-Romanesque church, built by architect F. Baeckelmans (1890). The ground plan features a basilical cross, with striking semi-circular structures and merging arches. The triforium (gallery) encompasses the whole church. The tower is particularly robust. Simple interior decoration. There is a unique set of stations of the cross (J.W. Rosier, 1908), painted on brass with brass frames. There are 16^th and 18^th century paintings by P. Thijs and W.J. Herreyns respectively. Anneessen organ from 1895.

The church was withdrawn from worship in 2018. The first public activity was a successful rag-and-bone market … in the presence of the prestigious high altarThe altar is the central piece of furniture used in the Eucharist. Originally, an altar used to be a sacrificial table. This fits in with the theological view that Jesus sacrificed himself, through his death on the cross, to redeem mankind, as symbolically depicted in the painting “The Adoration of the Lamb” by the Van Eyck brothers. In modern times the altar is often described as “the table of the Lord”. Here the altar refers to the table at which Jesus and his disciples were seated at the institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper. Just as Jesus and his disciples did then, the priest and the faithful gather around this table with bread and wine.. O tempora, o mores.

The church, which with its robust and unique tower is one of the most important eye-catchers of Antwerp as from the Ring Road – especially if you come from Liège via the E313 or from Eindhoven via the E34 – functioned for more than a century as a triumphal sign of Christianity. For those of you who now know, the tower cross now stands as a symbol of past glory and of a waning church community.