Grotteke at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Poelkerk Tienen Belgium

Grotteke at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Poelkerk Tienen Belgium
Grotteke "Gente dame du gothique Brabançon ...", as Paul Dewalhens, former city archivist of Tienen and French-speaking poet, described in 1966 this church that is considered by many to be the cradle of Brabant's high Gothic.

The church owes its name to the legend in which the Holy Virgin and the muted pool play a leading role. Diederik, from Kampen, taught in Paris. Occasionally he returned to his native region. Fate struck around Easter 1173: during one of his return journeys he was murdered in Tienen by the innkeeper of the inn where he spent the night. His body was thrown into the pool to erase all traces of the crime.

Wonderful lights appeared above the pool. A pious woman who observed this predicted that a church would be built in this place in honor of Mary. In the reclamation works of the pool, Diederik's corpse was found between three sources of clear water to which healing power was attributed.

Originally, this church was no more than a pilgrimage chapel. It was not until 1802 that it became a fully-fledged parish church.

Be sure to take a look at the north side of the church and discover the "cave" built in 1858 after the apparitions of Our Lady in Lourdes. This cave is still a special place of pilgrimage for many teenagers.
Sincerely
Theo-Herbots-Photography
Read less