Churches and chapels

Although known by everyone as St. Peter's Church, the official name is actually St. Pieter and St. Barbara's decanal church.

The current church is built on an older, 13th-century place of worship, of which only the lower part of the tower remains. Between November 1739 and October 1740 radical repair and enlargement works were carried out based on the design by architect J.P. van Baurscheit de Jonge. The interior finishes and portal frames followed during the course of the third quarter of the 18th century. The sacristy and the chapter room above it date from the 19th century. In 1869, after a design by architect P.J. Taeymans, the upper tower section was realised in its current form.

Because the church is very old and has been rebuilt several times over the years, there is no style uniformity in the strict sense of the phrase. But you could say that the construction style is predominantly 'Kempen Gothic'.

Practical information

Address

• Grote Markt

Opening hours

• Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8.30 am to 5 pm
• Sundays and public holidays from 9.30 am to 5 pm
• Closed on Mondays

Masses

• Sundays at 9.30 am

With a height of 92 meters, the tower of the Church of the Sacred Heart is the highest in the city. The Church of the Sacred Heart is visible from all access roads to Turnhout.

On May 9, 1896 the Official Gazette mentioned the establishment of the parish of the Sacred Heart in Turnhout. In June of the same year Petrus Verschueren was appointed parish priest and his first assignment was the construction of a church. In 1903 the first stone of the current church building was laid. On February 3, 1907, the church was solemnly inaugurated. The very pure neo-Gothic style typifies the Church of the Sacred Heart. The Provincial Commission for Monuments and Landscapes classified the church as a monument in 1999.

Practical information

Address

• Kerkplein 9-17

Masses

• Saturdays from 18 to 19 pm
• Sundays from 8.30 to 12 am

Opening hours

• Wednesday from 14 to 17 pm.

Between 1662 and 1667 the Holy Cross Church (or Beguinage Church) was erected by order of Anna Bax. She was the mistress of the beguinage. The church is dedicated to the Holy Cross and built with Baroque and Gothic style characteristics. During the French Revolution it was transformed into a 'Temple of Reason'. In 1978 restoration works were carried out under the direction of architect E. Wauters.

The present Beguinage Church is located in the western part of the beguinage. But the first church was located at the Kruisberg (mountain of the Cross).

Practical information

Address

• Begijnhof 57

Masses

• Sundays at 9.30 am

For the construction of the Our Lady Mediatrix Church architect Jules Taeymans and Dutch painter-glazier Lou Asperslagh worked together. The result is a church building in regional brick style with neo-Gothic and Art-Deco impact and a neo-Byzantine interior.

Lou Asperslagh has made his stamp abundantly clear on the interior of the church. In the church you will find a legion of decorations with monumental murals, but also numerous and particularly colourful stained-glass windows (141 in total). The ornate window 'The exaltation of Mary' at the back of the church shows beautiful angels reminding us of Memling. Also, here, the colour richness, with lots of reds and blues, is striking.

Practical information

Address

• de Merodelei 193

Masses

• Saturdays at 5 pm

The parish church of St. Francis of Assisi was built in 1965 after a design by Steenbergen. The church has a sandstone brick façade at the entrance. The whole is a combination of two half circles under the flat roof. The concrete frame construction is filled with brick. At the front and rear it is interrupted by metal, vertical and horizontal window strips.

Practical information

Address

• Schorvoortberg 56

Masses

• Sundays at 10 am

The Lokeren Chapel is also known in Turnhout as the Chapel of Our Lady of Consolation because of the statue of Mary that can be found there. The chapel was built in 1714 and is a pilgrimage chapel.

Practical information

Address

• Steenweg op Gierle

The Chapel of Nazareth is a neo-Classical building that dates from the period 1873-1875. This makes the chapel the only remnant of the Apostolic school. It is owned by the City of Turnhout and is also part of the Nazareth cemetery.

Practical information

Address

• Steenweg op Merksplas 66

The Chapel of Our Lady of Help is also sometimes called the Chapel of the French Congregation. This neo-Gothic chapel dates from 1897 and was built on the site of an older house called 'De Tuimelaar’ (the tumbler). The client was the Congregation of Single women of Civil Status. They met and spoke in French and this explains the name of the chapel.

Practical information

Address

• Herentalsstraat 6

The current prayer house was created in 1690-1694. The inhabitants of Zevendonk, a Turnhout hamlet, built a new chapel after they found an alabaster statue of the Virgin Mary in their neighbourhood. The former neo-Romanesque church was demolished in 1997. The local residents built the current church.

Practical information

Address

• Kapelweg 56

Masses

• Sundays at 9.30 am

Gaston Hofman was commissioned in 1970 to create and manage a new parish in Turnhout. The church plan was approved at the end of 1971 and is a design by architect Van Steenbergen. This made the Gospel the eighth parish in Turnhout.

Practical information

Address

• Lode Peetersplantsoen 1

Masses

• Saturdays at 6 pm

The Whitsun Church of the district 't Stokt was built in 1960-1961 at the Jesuit College. The parish church was designed by Bressers. The numerous stained-glass windows and glass-in-concrete windows are especially typical of Jan Cobbaert. The atmosphere of the church is determined by the light and the colour interplay of these many stained-glass windows. 

Practical information

Address

• Collegestraat 26

Masses

• Sundays at 11 am

The search for a Protestant church building lasted until 1993. When with the support of the City of Turnhout, Protestants were able to buy a kindergarten with three classes. A large group of volunteers rolled up their sleeves to help thoroughly renovate this small school.

Practical information

Address

• Steenweg op Gierle 188

Masses

• Sundays at 10 am
• for children there is a child service or babysitter

This church, built-in a neo-Gothic style, is dedicated to St. Anthony and is directly connected to the former Clarisses (Poor Clares) monastery. In 1875 the Clarisses came to Turnhout, and later in 1883, moved from the Herentalsstraat to the Draaiboomstraat/Otterstraat. Since 1970 they have found their home in the buildings on the Heizijde. A youth centre was then moved into the old monastery buildings.

The monastery consists of simple brick cloister wings of two storeys under slate saddle roofs around a small, indoor garden. The church is a north-south-oriented basilica of five bays with three-aisled nave. 

Practical information

Address

• Otterstraat 126

Masses

• Saturdays at 5.30 pm