Sint-Pietersbandenkerk

Sint-Pietersbandenkerk is a neo-Gothic parish church in Oudenaken, a village that forms part of the municipality of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw in Flemish Brabant. Standing on a gentle rise at the heart of the village, the building served as the main place of worship for the local community for well over a century.

How old is this church, really?

The parish itself traces back much further than the current building. Its roots lie in a small ninth-century manorial chapel (a so-called villakerkje), which for centuries formed a single parish together with the neighbouring village of Sint-Laureins-Berchem. In 1160 both chapels were donated to the Abbey of Affligem, which held patronage rights over them. A century later, in 1260, the two chapels were split into separate parishes, only to be reunited again in 1619 — an arrangement that lasted into the modern era.

The building visitors see today, however, is not the one from that long history. An eighteenth-century church that had served the parish for generations was demolished around 1910. In its place, a new and considerably larger church was built between 1910 and 1911 in the neo-Gothic style — the structure that still stands in Oudenaken and carries the dedication to Saint Peter in Chains (Sint-Pieters-Banden).

What does the building look like?

Sint-Pietersbandenkerk was designed as a neo-Gothic hall church, a style widely used across Belgium around the turn of the twentieth century. Typical features of this design include tall pointed windows, steep roofs, and a slender tower that rises above the surrounding buildings, acting as a landmark visible from the farmland stretching around Oudenaken. Inside, hall churches of this type typically favour a unified nave space rather than the strict division into a central nave and side aisles found in basilica-style churches.

Is the church still used for religious services?

No. Since 2017, no religious services have taken place in Sint-Pietersbandenkerk, and the building has since been formally deconsecrated. This reflects a broader pattern seen across many Belgian municipalities, where declining congregations have made it increasingly difficult to justify maintaining historic churches solely for religious use.

What is planned for the building next?

Rather than being left to decay, the church has been earmarked for redevelopment. The municipality of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw has decided to give the building a new, secular purpose: the renovated church in Oudenaken is set to reopen in March 2027 as a new community hall, available to residents for meetings, cultural events, and local initiatives. This adaptive-reuse approach is becoming increasingly common in Belgium, allowing historic religious buildings to gain a second life as public spaces while preserving their original silhouette — including the distinctive tower still visible from the fields around the village.

Why visit Oudenaken?

Oudenaken itself is a small, quiet village with an agricultural character, typical of the Pajottenland region south-west of Brussels. Despite losing its original function, Sint-Pietersbandenkerk remains the most recognisable landmark in the village and a physical witness to over a thousand years of local religious history — from a medieval manorial chapel, through centuries under the patronage of the Abbey of Affligem, to its present-day transformation into a space for the community.

Frequently asked questions

Are religious services still held here? No, the building has not been used for worship since 2017.

When was the current building constructed? The present neo-Gothic church dates from 1910–1911, replacing an earlier eighteenth-century church on the same site.

What will the church be used for in the future? It is being converted into a community hall, with reopening planned for March 2027.