Office de Tourisme Cassel Horizons

The splendid tower of the church, which is around 40 meters high, points the village of Rubrouck and dominates its nice country houses.

Most of them are old and very traditional with their Flemish architectural style. That’s why Rubrouck was chosen as village pilot for the operation Cent villages which must lead to its renovation by respecting its personality.

This high steeple, decorated with arcades sculpted in brick, a typical Flemish art, is the oldest part of the building. It was put up in 1532. According to the legend, it is said to have been built with materials from Thérouanne, a fortified town of King of France, landlocked in Netherlands. This town was devastated by the Flemish in 1553. So, only the superstructures benefited from this contribution!

The three naves, long and wide, had to be rebuilt after several fires, particularly in 1616 and 1727: it was always in Gothic style.

The interior of the church was decorated with beautiful paneling in the 18^th century. The confessionals, which are older, are of baroque inspiration with their pillars full of vine. It is also the case of the lateral altarpieces. The baptismal fonts, works of the end of the 18^th century, are a beautiful example of the Louis XVI’s style, based on Greco-Roman antiquity.

Near a pillar, there is a moving statue of Jesus flagellated. It is surrounded by eight medallions which show some events of the Passion. The last sentence of the Passion, the entombment of Christ, is mentioned by a sepulcher, smaller than the other ones that you can find in the other churches of Flanders.

The entombment of Christ is also depicted on the oldest paintings, a triptych of the 17^th century. Another painting, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, was made by the casselois Alexandre Bafcop (1804-1895).

Notice: the “kranten”, dais with small columns and canopy full of flowers which surrounded the statue of a saint: Sainte Barbe. Fitted with shafts, these devotional works are used during the religious celebrations.

On the northern side of the church, the old presbytery was the scene of a tragedy on April 17 1568: the priest and his curate were kidnapped by a group of insurgents, who claimed to be representative of Protestantism and who called themselves Gueux (beggars). The priest and his curate were drawn in a pond. The pond is called Pape-put, the priest’s well.

Near the church, on the road to Broxeele, there is a beautiful hofstede next to the medieval hummock. This hummock helped to the apparition of the seigneury of Belhof.

The name of Rubrouck distinguished itself thanks to the Franciscan monk, Guillaume de Rubrouck who was born there around 1220 and was one of the first Europeans to look for Asia.

To get more information about the history of this village, you can upload audio guides on the home page of our website.