Church of St. Chrysole,
Comines
Beautiful
placed at the little border river between Belgium and France is the parish
church of saint Chrysole. The church is placed in opposite
of the town hall, in front of a square, in the middle of the town of Comines,
which is divided in a French part and a Belgian part. Multiple members of L'Arche have cooperated at this project and the church is
mentioned as the best style-representative of L'Arche.
The architecture was designed by Dom Bellot and Maurice Storez.
The artwork inside is by François Mes OSB.
L'Arche
was seeking to make modern art useful for religious purposes. Using materials
and technical solutions known at the beginning of the 20th century
they constructed religious buildings. They rejected copying old styles: Make
something new, continuing the architecture of all ages past!
The church
is one of the most beautiful examples of L'Arche:
Influenced by the Byzantine and Moorish style, but constructed out of concrete
and brick. Little pieces of glass are used in the concrete parts of the roofs as
decoration.
After the
first world war the town of Comines was destroyed. It’s medieval “Scheldegotic” church was a ruin. In 1922 the construction
of the new saint Chrysole started and building it
stopped in 1933. The church was planned to have the form of a Greek cross, with
the transepts as long as the nave, but shortage of money influenced the
original plans: The transepts have never been build and the church is a little
bit lower than the original plans. At the base of the bell-tower is a monument
for the victims of the great war (1914-1918).
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We visited
this church in 2010 and found it in need of restoration. In the interior nets
were placed to prevent falling concrete to hit the people inside. The iron in
the reinforced concrete was expanding due to moisture, and that was causing the
concrete to break apart... In July 2011 the restoration was started, which
ended October 2017.
We visited this church every year to monitor the progress.
Click here for more detail.
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At the
interior the use of concrete is clearly visible. The
skeleton of the construction is made of concrete, bricks are used to fill in
the walls, using a mosaic of different colours. The main altar has a canopy
of concrete, tracking all attention to the sanctuary. Behind the main altar
is a little chapel dedicated to the virgin Mary. Little
pieces of glass are used to decorate the altars. The
original pulpit was removed in 1970. During the works the pulpit was
reinstalled after the original plans of Dom Bellot.. It is also decorated
with mosaic. |
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The
stained glass windows of this church are impressive. It is also restored in
2015. The balconies
of the nave seem to have no purpose. There is no gallery in this church. At the
north of the front part is the baptistery. At the south is a chapel with a
Pieta-statue, in the lower part of the tower. Both are connected with the
church by a small corridor. At the
rear of the church a little chapel for services at weekdays is made. It can
be entered by a door at the backside of the church. . |
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This church
is special in the works of Bellot. The appearance of the church is unique,
probably due to the cooperation of many members of L’Arche.
The structure of the church is mostly designed by Maurice Storez.
The decoration is the work of Bellot: The windows, the altars, chandeliers,
using multiple colours of brick to decorate the walls... It is clearly modern
religious art according to the intention of Bellot. The church is known as the
best example of L'Arche.
