The parade and the interior of the St. John’s

On your right you’ll see a large square called the parade. Stop for a moment so you can take it all in.

The parade is a square where many festivities take place and it owes its name to the fact that it was used between 1749 and 1935 as a military exercise and parade ground. It has been car-free for many years now and a wonderful place to enjoy St. John’s, whether using one of the terraces of the cafes near the square, or not.

As promised I will tell you a bit more about the interior of the St. John’s.

The interior of the church is expansive due to her five naves, although with a height of only 28 meters it is a bit squat compared to other Gothic cathedrals as the one in Antwerp, Mechelen or Leuven. Unfortunately, during the iconoclasm in 1566 and the period when the church was used by the Protestants, many statues and altars were lost. Upon entering, immediately to the left is the aforementioned Maria chapel. If you look up there, you can see from the vaults that they are not in proportion to each other. This is caused by the fact that the newly planned Gothic tower on the other side of the Torenstraat was never built. The builders had to improvise with this vault construction as a result.

The no fewer than seven radiant chapels on the right side of the church are also special. A specific saint is venerated in each chapel. Finely carved woodwork or imposing stained glass windows provide the most beautiful scenes. It is worth noting that this part of the church cannot be visited between September and January, because volunteers are building the Christmas story with life-sized dolls and animals. This in turn can of course be admired in the weeks around Christmas.

Now continue walking towards the church. The entrance to the church is in the lower part of the brick tower. You are kindly asked not to use your mobile phone, and therefore this app, inside the church.

Take your time inside, to enjoy the interior. You can close off the tour by tapping the End Tour button in the top right corner.  When you leave the church afterwards, start the tour again by choosing Resume.

If you don’t close off the tour or prefer to keep moving, with your entrance door at your back, turn left twice and walk a few steps alongside the fence, where I will tell you about the building history of the church.