St. Rombout’s Cathedral: an architectural masterpiece in Mechelen

In the heart of the Belgian city of Mechelen is what is surely the city’s most striking landmark. St. Rombouts Cathedral towers over the entire cityscape and is not only worth seeing for architecture enthusiasts.

Building history of St. Rombouts Cathedral

Construction work on St. Rombouts Cathedral began around 1200, when Mechelen was growing into an important religious center. Even at this time, the then still small three-aisled church was more magnificent and larger than any other parish church in the city.

The cathedral, named after the Irish missionary and martyr Saint Rombout (also known as Saint Rumold), was originally designed as a Romanesque church. However, over the centuries, the building took on a Gothic form, which today characterizes its unmistakable silhouette. The construction of the cathedral took several centuries. The transept and the naves and aisles were built in the first construction phase. The first section of the choir was built later. The consecration took place in 1312.

Over the next few centuries, there was a lot of building activity on the church. The choir was given an apse, chapels were built, the nave was raised and the architectural style increasingly changed from High Gothic to French Cathedral Gothic. The majority of the structure as we know it today was built during this period.

The St. Rombouts Tower

The tower was supposed to be 167 meters high. It is still not known who exactly designed this plan and it never reached this height. The planned 70-metre-high spire was never completed and so the tower is only 97.30 meters high today. Despite its unfinished state, the tower is an impressive example of Gothic tower architecture and has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The foundation stone of the tower was laid in May 1452, and initially hardly any progress could be seen. Hardly anything happened for almost 10 years. Then construction of the tower stopped for a while. When construction finally resumed, the architectural style had changed. This is clearly visible on the tower.

Visit to St. Rombouts Cathedral

The architecture of St. Rombouts Cathedral is a beautiful example of High Gothic architecture. Its prominent lancet windows and intricate tracery are typical of this style.

The cathedral houses a remarkable collection of religious works of art. The painting “Christ on the Cross” by the famous Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck is certainly one of the most outstanding paintings. But works by Michiel Coxcie, Gaspard de Crayer and Abraham Janssens can also be found in St. Rombouts Cathedral.

I particularly liked the magnificent baroque high altar from 1665. It is decorated with elaborate carvings and ornamentation. The choir stalls and pulpit are also artistically carved. The depictions on the pulpit in particular are so detailed and interesting that I stood there for quite a while to take in as many impressions as possible.

The tower ascent

The entrance to St. Rombout’s Tower is located in the entrance area of the cathedral. The climb up the 538 steps of the tower is very popular. During opening hours, 25 people can start the climb every 20 minutes.

The number of steps should not be a deterrent. You don’t climb them one after the other, there are several intermediate levels where there is plenty to discover.

160 steps done

First we reached the crane chamber after 160 steps. This is where the impeller is located, which was needed to operate the crane. The wheel is connected to a pulley block, which was used to transport the heavy materials up.

A few steps further on (we have now climbed 233 steps!), we are in the smithy and after a total of 318 steps we reach the bell chamber. The 6 large bass bells hang here. The smaller bells hang one floor higher in the belfry. The bells used to be rung by hand. For the largest bell, which weighs around 8800 kg and has a diameter of 2.32 meters, 6 bell ringers were needed.

The route continues up to the Old Carillon Chamber. Mechelen is famous for its carillonneurs. There is even a carillon school in the city. The old carillon was made famous by the town carillonneur Denyn (1862-1941) because he was a master at playing it.

381 steps done

First we reached the clock chamber, having now climbed 381 steps. The clock became increasingly important in the city with the expansion of the railroad. Its purpose was to ensure that all clocks in the city could be set according to the tower clock of St. Rombout’s Cathedral and also to adjust the train’s journey times.

Louis Michiels from Mechelen fitted the clockwork with an electric drive, which was later also installed in other towers in Belgium. If you listen carefully to the tower clock chiming today, you will not only hear the Mechelen half hour. Just before the hour strikes, there is a suggestion (melody) that invites you to start counting the strikes.

Step 415 takes you to the New Glockenspiel Chamber. Pupils from the carillon school play here every Saturday at 11.30 am and Sunday at 3 pm.

The most unusual room is certainly the ash cellar after 490 steps. This is where the mortar needed to build the tower was once stored. Mortar also used to be called ash. However, I’m not quite sure why it was called a cellar. For me, a cellar is always underground. But perhaps it was simply the term for storage. In this room, you can be transported back in time with the help of an AR application and experience a spectacle from the year 1516.

After 538 steps, we finally reach the Skywalk on the St. Rombouts Tower. The viewing platform offers a wonderful view over the city and the surrounding area. Unfortunately, it was raining during our visit, so we couldn’t see the port of Antwerp or the Atomium in Brussels. But it should be possible with good visibility.

History of the Mechelen Lunar Extinguishers

There is a legend surrounding the tower of St. Rombouts Cathedral. It is said to have been in 1687 when a drunken citizen left the pub. He looked up at the church tower and saw that it was on fire. He immediately raised the alarm and the townspeople came with their buckets of water to put out the fire. As they eagerly passed the filled buckets from hand to hand, the moon came out from behind the clouds. Suddenly the red embers had disappeared.

The people of Mechelen had actually tried to put out the moon! Since then, the townspeople have been nicknamed the “moon extinguishers”.

According to legend, the town also owes its town colors to the alleged tower fire. It is said that the mayor jumped out of bed and, out of sheer excitement, put on two different colored socks – one in yellow and the other in red. This is said to have been the impetus for the two town colors.

Why doesn’t the St. Rombouts Tower have a spire?

There are many different stories on this subject, all of which may contain a little bit of truth.

Some claim that the stones for the construction were stolen. Others say that the money ran out and the construction could not be completed. But perhaps it is also due to the statics? The tower’s foundations only go down about 3 meters. If you add up the weight of the tower today – material, bells, clockwork… – you get an approximate weight of 42,000 tons. If the tower had been even higher and even heavier, would the foundations have been able to cope?

Who knows what exactly caused it. But I think the half-finished tower is a wonderful landmark for the city.

Visitor information

Address

Onder den Toren 12,
2800 Mechelen

The visit to the church took place as part of a press trip with Visit Mechelen.