Church of St. Anthony of Padua

The Church of St. Anthony of Padua is a neo-Gothic Catholic church standing at the very center of the oval Place Saint-Antoine in Etterbeek, one of the municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region. At the start of the 20th century this part of Etterbeek was still on the edge of the built-up city, and it was precisely the urban development of the area that gave rise to the square and the parish gathered around it.

When was the church built?

Construction began in 1905 and continued, in stages, until 1935 — a thirty-year span. The project was carried out in two main phases. The first, completed in 1906, produced the choir, one bay, the nave and the transept. The second phase, finished only in the 1930s (by 1933), added the tower, the facade and the gallery. Such a long, interrupted building process was not unusual for large parish churches of that era: the needs of a growing congregation often outpaced the funds available to complete each successive section.

Who designed the church?

The design is the work of architects Edmond Serneels and Georges Cochaux. They chose a neo-Gothic style inspired by the pointed-arch architecture of the late 13th century — the mature Gothic idiom, with its elongated forms and richly decorated window tracery. This stylistic choice was typical of many parish churches built in Belgium at the time, when neo-Gothic was seen as a natural continuation of the country's medieval sacred architecture.

What makes the building's layout distinctive?

The church's most distinctive architectural feature is its position: it has two facades, facing north and south respectively, each fitted with stained-glass windows and rose windows. The two facades visually close off two separate forecourts, which form the northern and southern sections of the oval Place Saint-Antoine. This arrangement makes the church the visual anchor of the entire public space around it, regardless of which side of the square a visitor approaches from.

What is the building's heritage status?

The church was listed as a protected national heritage monument in 2004. The listing recognizes the building's historical and architectural value as a record of Etterbeek's urban development at the turn of the 20th century, when the municipality's still largely rural areas began turning into denser urban neighborhoods.

Frequently asked questions

How long did it take to build the Church of St. Anthony of Padua? Construction spanned thirty years in total, from 1905 to 1935, carried out in two clearly separated phases.

Who designed the church? It was jointly designed by architects Edmond Serneels and Georges Cochaux.

Why does the church have two facades? Because of its position on the oval Place Saint-Antoine, the building closes off two separate forecourts, on the north and south sides, hence the two equally prominent, stained-glass-decorated facades.

Is the building a protected heritage site? Yes, the church has been listed as a protected heritage monument since 2004.

Where exactly is the church located? It stands at the center of Place Saint-Antoine in the municipality of Etterbeek, in the southern part of the Brussels-Capital Region.