The "big yellow church" on Paardenmarkt, right around the corner from the student dorms, is always "closed to the public". As a result, of all the times we've been here, I've never been in that church. This time, however, it was open (for only three days, for about three hours per day). A very nice retired maritime ship's master, Capt. Arnold Claus, who was born and raised in Antwerp, conducted a magnificent behind-the-scenes tour for us. The church used to be the site of a monastery from the 1400's until the late 1800's, when the present building was built. The church still has many magnificent relics and treasures from the days of the monks. Here is Capt. Claus showing us a private room that used to be part of the monks' cloister.
There was a very interesting "manuscript" book, in color, created by the monks to document the various ships and masters who worshipped at the church prior to a voyage. The name of the church derives from the fact that the sailors would come there to ask for a "good success", not just a safe voyage, but so that they might have good trading success with their foreign partners.
Captain Claus spend well over an hour, explaining a lot about the paintings, sculptures, the histories and backgrounds, etc.
One of the more interesting pieces (and one that I didn't get a picture of) was the "state table" where the monks would be placed after their death but before their burial. Monks were never buried in a coffin, only their robes. They would be lain out naked on this zinc-covered table for a couple of days just to make sure they were fully dead. Creepy.
There was a very interesting "manuscript" book, in color, created by the monks to document the various ships and masters who worshipped at the church prior to a voyage. The name of the church derives from the fact that the sailors would come there to ask for a "good success", not just a safe voyage, but so that they might have good trading success with their foreign partners.
Captain Claus spend well over an hour, explaining a lot about the paintings, sculptures, the histories and backgrounds, etc.
One of the more interesting pieces (and one that I didn't get a picture of) was the "state table" where the monks would be placed after their death but before their burial. Monks were never buried in a coffin, only their robes. They would be lain out naked on this zinc-covered table for a couple of days just to make sure they were fully dead. Creepy.
2 comments:
Even creepier to bury someone who is still alive, though!
Wow, you can finally mark that one off your list. That is a little different about the burial thing. Ugh.
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