Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Hemelrijkkapel

Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Hemelrijkkapel is a small, whitewashed roadside chapel in De Pinte, in the East Flanders province of Belgium, standing near the site of the former Hemelrijk castle. Modest in scale, the chapel carries a striking backstory tied to one of the recurring tragedies of nineteenth-century rural Europe: a cholera outbreak.

Why was this chapel built?

The chapel was erected in 1851 along a country lane connecting Beukendreef and Scheldeveldedreef, commissioned by the De Rudder-Deynoodt family, owners of the nearby Hemelrijk estate. Its origin lies in the cholera epidemic that struck the area around Zevergem in 1849. The disease claimed the life of Frans Deynoodt, father-in-law of Frans De Rudder, along with one of his daughters and a household servant. In the face of this loss, Deynoodt's widow, Jeanne Popelemon van Haelen, turned to the Virgin Mary in prayer, asking that the epidemic be kept from spreading further through the region. In exchange, she made a vow: to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome and to build a chapel in Mary's honor. When the epidemic subsided, the family kept its promise, and the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Hemelrijkkapel — the Chapel of Our Lady of Hemelrijk — was the result.

What does the chapel look like?

The building has a simple rectangular footprint, built from whitewashed brick and covered by a tiled saddle roof topped with a cross finial. At the front stands a small entrance portico supported by square pillars with Tuscan capitals, crowned by a pediment featuring a round oculus opening and an inscription in Dutch: "Nood zoekt troost — O.L.V. van Hemelryk Bid v. ons," which translates roughly as "Need seeks comfort — Our Lady of Hemelrijk, pray for us." The phrase captures the founders' intent in a direct way: the chapel was meant as a place where local residents could come in moments of fear and uncertainty, just as the De Rudder-Deynoodt family had done when the epidemic threatened their community.

Inside, despite its small size, the chapel houses statues connected to the popular religious traditions of this part of Flanders: an image of Our Lady, along with Saint Joseph and Saint Anthony. This combination of figures — associated with family life, labor, and the recovery of lost things — was a common choice for private chapels built by landowning families in nineteenth-century Flanders.

Why visit?

The chapel sits along a quiet country lane in De Pinte, surrounded by the green, gently rolling landscape typical of this stretch of East Flanders, between the Scheldt and Leie river valleys. It is not a site that draws crowds, but it holds genuine interest for anyone curious about local history, small-scale religious architecture, or the traces that past epidemics have left on Belgium's cultural landscape. For walkers and cyclists exploring the area around De Pinte and the Leie valley, the chapel makes for a worthwhile stop — a tangible reminder of how a local landowning family responded to a health crisis through faith and architecture.

Frequently asked questions

When was the chapel built? In 1851, two years after the cholera epidemic that affected the Zevergem area in 1849.

Who commissioned the chapel? The De Rudder-Deynoodt family, owners of the nearby Hemelrijk estate, in fulfillment of a vow made during the epidemic.

What does the inscription above the entrance mean? "Nood zoekt troost — O.L.V. van Hemelryk Bid v. ons" translates as "Need seeks comfort — Our Lady of Hemelrijk, pray for us."

Can visitors go inside the chapel? As a small roadside chapel, its exterior architecture can be viewed while walking or cycling through the countryside around De Pinte.