P289 - Belgium - The Sainte-Waudru church in Mons

The Sainte-Waudru church in Mons, Belgium

Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital.

A beautiful example of a church in Brabantine Gothic style is the Sainte-Waudru church in Mons. The gothic church replaced older churches in Romanesque style. The building started in 1450 and lasted until 1690. The different architects all respected the original plan, so that the Sainte-Waudru church remained quite homogenous in style. A 190 m high tower was planned, but never finished due to lack of money. Although the church looks quite plump from the outside, the inside, however, has all the characteristics of the vertical late gothic style. In the 16th century a marble rood loft was placed between the choir and the nave of the church. It was decorated with splendid alabaster statues of the Virtues. The rood loft was destroyed during the plundering in the wake of the French Revolution. The alabaster statues survived and were again put on display in the choir and the transepts in 1930.

One of the other attractions inside the church is the 'Car d'Or', a gilded wooden carriage used during an annual procession. When visiting the church, one should also admire the stained-glass windows from the 16th century, made by Claix Eve.

蒙斯市是比利时王国埃诺省首府，距守敌布鲁塞尔54公里，距欧洲第二大港口安特卫普100公里。蒙斯市是比利时王国银行最多的城市之一，也是一个重要的交通枢纽，从南到意大利，北到斯堪的纳维亚半岛诸国均有直达高速公路相连。旅客从这里乘欧洲特快列车两个小时即可到达巴黎。

蒙斯市人口稠密，现在共有居民10多万人， 目前，市区面积14815公顷，人口密度为每公顷640人， 以蒙斯市为中心的250公里范围内，是欧洲工业人口最集中的地区。

现在蒙斯市的主要矿产资源是白垩，它也是比利时王国最大的农业省中心，三分之一的土地专门用于生产饲料、饲养奶牛，制造奶产品，种植粮食和甜菜。

圣沃德吕教堂（Collégiale St Waudru）-布拉班特格特式教堂，被誉为“15世纪比利时最美的教堂”。内部也极尽奢华。殿里收藏了雕刻家杰克•迪•布鲁克的很多作品，也有金器皿和圣遗物等等收藏在宝物殿里。

References sources : Wikipedia, www.trabel.com, 百度百科