St. Nicholas Church ( nl, Sint-Niklaaskerk) is one of the oldest and most prominent landmarks in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. Begun in the early 13th century as a replacement for an earlier Romanesque church, construction continued through the rest of the century in the local

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style (named after the nearby river). Typical of this style is the use of blue-gray stone from the

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Eurome ...

area, the single large tower above the crossing, and the slender

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

s at the building's corners. Built in the old trade center of Ghent next to the bustling ''Korenmarkt'' (Wheat Market), St. Nicholas Church was popular with the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

s whose members carried out their business nearby. The guilds had their own

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

s which were added to the sides of the church in the 14th and 15th centuries. The central tower, which was funded in part by the city, served as an observation post and carried the town bells until the neighboring

belfry of Ghent The Belfry of Ghent ( nl, Belfort van Gent) is one of three medieval towers that overlook the old city centre of Ghent, Belgium; the other two belonging to Saint Bavo Cathedral and Saint Nicholas' Church. Its height of makes it the tallest ...

was built. These two towers, along with the

Saint Bavo Cathedral Saint Bavo's Cathedral, also known as Sint-Baafs Cathedral ( nl, Sint Baafskathedraal), is a cathedral of the Catholic Church in Ghent, Belgium. The 89-meter-tall Gothic building is the seat of the Diocese of Ghent and is named for Saint Bavo of ...

, still define the famous medieval skyline of the city center. One of the treasures of the church is its

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, produced by the famous French organ builder

Aristide Cavaillé-Coll Aristide Cavaillé-Coll (; 4 February 1811 – 13 October 1899) was a French organ builder. He has the reputation of being the most distinguished organ builder of the 19th century. He pioneered innovations in the art and science of organ build ...

Restoration

The building gradually deteriorated through the centuries, to a degree that threatened its stability. Cracks were overlaid with plaster, windows were bricked up to reinforce the walls, and in the 18th century, little houses and shops were built up against the dilapidated facades. Interest in the church as a historical monument arose around 1840, and at the turn of the 20th century major restoration plans emerged. The houses alongside the church were demolished and much renovation work has been carried out since then.

Organ

The

in the Saint Nicholas Church is one of the most important romantic organs of

. It was built by the noted French organ builder

History

Before the Cavaillé-Coll organ, the church had an organ built in 1840 by the Flemish organ builder Pierre Van Pethegem. In 1850,

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univer ...

advocated the construction of a model organ in Belgium, he got support from dean Désiré Ignace Verduyn. They asked Cavaillé-Coll to make a proposal for a new organ, the first CC organ in Belgium. In a first proposal of March, 1853, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll suggested a two-manual instrument, partially reusing material of the Van Peteghem organ. A second proposal also suggested a two-manual instrument with almost identical disposition. The third proposal of September 3, 1853 describes the final three-manual organ in a new case with 16' pipes in the front (''Grand Orgue dit de seize pieds en Monfre''). Construction of the organ began in 1853, it was completed in 1856. The inauguration concert was performed by Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély on March 11, 1856.

Organists

* 1856–1867: Auguste Strauven * 1867–1901: Désiré Van Reysschoot. * 1901–1946: Cyriel Van den Abeele

Restoration

During the restoration of the church, the organ was enclosed in a wooden case. The organ was last played in 1961. For half a century the organ could not be played nor seen. In 2010 the wooden case was removed, the organ was cleaned and became visible again. It is not playable yet since the wind supply was removed and is currently in storage. In 2013 the organ loft and the organ were hydraulically leveled as a first step in the restoration process.

Disposition

Original disposition of March 11, 1856 (retaining the original French names): * ''Couplers:'' ** Orage ** Cop. Pédale ** Appel d'anches pédale ** Octaves graves Pos., G.O., Réc. ** Appel d'anches Pos., G.O., Réc. ** Accoupl. Pos./G.O., Réc./G.O. ** Trémolo voix humaine

Gallery

Image:Ghent, Saint-nicolas church, view from cathedral.JPG, The east end, viewed from St Bavo Cathedral Image:Altar Nicholas church Gent.jpg, Interior view, toward altar Image:Fresco Gent.jpg, Vaulting of the church, with fresco fragments Image:Eduard Gaertner Marktplatz Nikolaikirche Gent.jpg, 19th-century painting by Eduard Gaertner Image:Ghent Sint-Niklaaskerk.JPG, The west end, viewed from St Michaels bridge Image:Saint Nicholas Church.JPG, St. Nicholas Church in April 2007 Sint-Niklaaskerk and the belfry of Ghent (DSCF0274).jpg, St Michaels church during nautical twilight Saint-Nicholas-Church-Ghent.jpg, Church seen from Belfry in Ghent

Notes

External links

Official site

Interior of the Saint Nicholas church in 360°

Official site of the church

Organ photographs site
{{Coord, 51, 03, 14, N, 3, 43, 22, E, display=title, region:BE_type:landmark_source:nlwiki

Ghent, Nicholas Ghent, Nicholas

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its ...