Saint Peters Church - Leuven - TravBuddy

The religious community of Saint Peter is the oldest of Leuven. It was founded in 986, but the first church burned down so a new, much bigger Roman one, was build. The architecture is a typical example of "Branbant" art.

The architects wanted to build three towers. The highest would be 170 meters, but when a hight of 50 meters was reached, the grounds turned out to be to unstable to build a construction of this size. So the works were stopped, and only the bases of the towers remain...

The two world wars have caused great damage to the church. In 1914 the roof burned down and in 1944 the building was bombed by the Germans. Yet everything is been rebuilt in the original style.

Inside the church you can find the "Treasury of Saint Peter". Some artworks of "Flemish Primitieven" are to be admired here. One of the artists is Dirk Bouts, who made the statue "The torture of Saint Erasmus", a beautiful work.

Saint Peter is opened every Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 5pm, and on Saturdays until 4:30pm.
On Sundays you can visit between 2pm and 5pm, on Mondays between 10am and 5pm (but not during the winter).

A ticket to the treasury costs 5 euro and this also allows you to visit the Vander Kelen - Mertens museum. The entrence to the church itself is free.