Three days, late November 2005, in Brussels
Part 2: St. Catharine's and the Grand Beguinage, also at Night
On the first page we visited the Grand Place, one of the prettiest spots in the city, and now we will move a very short distance away to see Saint Catharine's. Saint Catherine's is a working church, and nothing special at all in touristic terms. However, it means something to me. Many years ago during a time of personal emotional upheavals I stayed near this building for a week, and for several evenings I simply sat in this building, let my mind rest to the point of almost no thought, and just felt my surroundings permeate me. As a result, that week I felt I was emotionally calmed, physically strengthened and spiritually renewed to a degree that surprised me. This church is medium-old, quite large, somewhat nondescript, but serving an important function. That could also be a description of me! No wonder I have a special rapport with this place!
Just a few blocks from Saint Catherine's sits another old church that, I am happy to see, is being restored. In its heyday it sat in the Brussels Beguinage. Of which all that is left is a street name and perhaps some buildings. To read much more than you ever wanted to know about Beguines and Beguinages (Begijnen and Begijnhofs in Flemish/Dutch) you can click here to read my four-part essay on "A Women's Movement in the High Middle Ages" which places the Beguines into an interesting context. Some of the most striking revelations ever written were from Beguine mystics, in my opinion, and I discuss my favorites in this linked essay.
By the way, I do think I did a nice job pulling together relevant themes into this somewhat lengthy essay, and apparently so does one academic who has provided a link to this essay on her fantastically rich womens' studies site collecting online translations of writings by women before 1700.
So here is a historic drawing of the church in the Beguinage (photo taken of a drawing, through a window in the dark, with flash, I am surprised anything is visible at all actually). According to a history I consulted (an extract is linked below) it is building this grand church using their own and borrowed funds, a church then and even now still one of the finest in the land, that brought this community of Beguines to bankruptcy:
The church's tower is overshadowed by a crane today:
The large building in the right front of the photo is an old hospital, no longer used for that purpose. Walking to the other end of the church shows this facade:
The decor above the door features a beguine, perhaps. The church itself is dedicated to John the Baptist:
About all that is left to remember the Beguinage by is a street name:
The streets have the small dwellings closely spaced typical of Beguinages, but such small dwellings closely spaced are also common elsewhere in the older part of the city and, in fact, there is nothing left of the old Beguinage according to a history I consulted. An extract/interpretation of that history is linked below:
Again, I apologize for the picture quality, but please pretend these fuzzy depictions are impressionistic photos, that they represent a new trend in art! (NOT!!) I may be able to replace some of these after my December visit to Brussels.
Go to First (Next) Brussels December photo page.
Go to Second Brussels December photo page.
Go to Third Brussels December photo page.
Go back to First Brussels November photo page
Go back to page on the Grand Beguinage
Where Ruisbroeck once worked and lived
Go Back to Life in 2005 Yearbook Page
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