St. Quentin's Cathedral (), also called Hasselt Cathedral, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

Belgium. Its construction began in the 11th century, and continued for two centuries. It was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1967 when the

Diocese of Hasselt The Diocese of Hasselt () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. Comprising the whole of Belgian Limburg, the diocese was created in 1967 out of the Diocese of Liège. It is a suffragan in the ec ...

was created.

History

A first church was built in the 8th century, but was replaced in the 11th century by a new Romanesque building. In the 15th century, the choir was added, and four chapels rebuilt. Also in the 15th century, Hagenprekers of the Netherlands came to preach

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in Hasselt, then followed a period of

iconoclasm Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

. Maaseik Hasselt temporarily declared the separation of the church. During that time, he destroyed the

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...

, statues, the side altar and the main altar, under the command of Gerard van Groesbeek. The tower of the present church dates from 1725; it was restored in the 19th century. At that time, Gothic stained glass and paintings from

Herkenrode Abbey Herkenrode Abbey () was a Catholic monastery of Cistercian nuns located in Kuringen, part of the municipality of Hasselt, which lies in the province of Limburg, Belgium. Since 1972 some of the surviving buildings have served as the home of a com ...

, an abbey near the town, were added. The walls are also decorated with

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es by Godfried Guffens, a local painter. The cathedral houses the works of many centuries, beginning in the 15th century. Since 1993, the cathedral is a protected heritage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Quentin Cathedral, Church Roman Catholic cathedrals in Belgium Buildings and structures in Hasselt

History

See also

References