Collegiate Church of Our Lady, Dinant

The Collegiate Church of Our Lady (Collégiale Notre-Dame) stands on the right bank of the Meuse in the centre of Dinant, directly below the rock crowned by the citadel. Its small choir rests against the cliff face – an image that has become the symbol of the town. The church’s origins are not precisely known: French-language sources give 934 as the year a chapter of canons was established here; the chapter is securely documented in the 11th century.

In the 12th century a Romanesque church stood on the site. On 22 December 1227 a huge block of rock broke away from the cliff and destroyed much of the building. For the new church the builders used local limestone and followed models from Burgundy and Champagne. The choir and transept were built between 1227 and 1247, and the nave and west front were completed by 1279. The result is one of the most important churches of Mosan Gothic: a Latin-cross building about 50 metres long, with a 22-metre-high nave, a triforium and tall traceried windows.

The church’s history mirrors that of Dinant. In 1466 it burned when Philip the Good sacked the town; the vaults were renewed and the stained glass restored in 1491. After another fire the tower received its pear-shaped cap in 1556, which according to regional sources was originally intended for the town hall. In the 19th century several architects restored the unity of the 13th-century design in a long restoration campaign. In August 1914 shelling and fire during the German invasion badly damaged the church; the architect Chrétien Veraart rebuilt it from 1919 to 1923.

Inside, look out for the large window by the glass painter Gustave Ladon, which depicts the history of salvation and is counted among the largest church windows in Europe, and for paintings by the Dinant-born Romantic painter Antoine Wiertz. The baptismal font with its reliefs dates from the 11th century and now stands in the south transept. Since 2014 a carillon of 49 bells has rung in the tower. The church is still in use as a Catholic parish church and has been a listed monument since 1941.