The Sint-Niklaaskerk (Saint Nicholas’ Church) has its origins in a small chapel dependent on the Collegiale kerk van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele (Church of St. Michael). It was dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of merchants, a fitting choice given its location near the Nedermerckt (Lower Market) which is today’s Grote Markt (Great Market).

The origin of the Sint-Niklaaskerk is unclear.

We first know about the “Sint-Niklaasgasthuis” (St Nicholas Guesthouse) – a hospice dedicated to Saint Nicholas when between 25 December 1128 and 4 June 1129, the Bischop of Kamerijk Burchardus gave an Altar of Wezembeek (altare de Wezenbeccha) to the Collegiale kerk van Sint-Michiel en Sint-Goedele. In the note that accompanied the gift, it was written that the income (of the altar) will not go to the St Michael’s Church but to the Sint-Niklaasgasthuis (hospitalicium Sancti Nicholai), which it was further stated to “be next to the church that lays at the parish border” (quod eidem ecclesie sub parrochiali termino adiacet).

As we know from the other hospices/hospitals, called “gasthuizen” (guesthouses) then in Dutch, such charity houses, almshouses or bedehouses always had a chapel attached and was initially run by the parish church. In this case, it is likely that the Sint-Niklaaskerk started out as a chapel of a hospice that catered to the traveling tradesmen who came to ply their goods along the Steenweg.

The first mention of Sint-Niklaaskerk date from 1152, where a monk in the Abbey of Affligem wrote of a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas  ‘in the town of Brussels’ (ecclesia Sancti Nicolai, que constructa est in oppido Brusellensi).

Located in the very heart of the old core of Brussels, the Sint-Niklaaskerk is oriented to the northeast and was historically enclosed by buildings on three sides, with a cemetery surrounding it until the 16th century.

The Mercantile Origins of the Sint-Niklaaskerk

As explained in the article about the Sint-Jacob-op-de-Koudenbergkerk atop the Coudenberg, Brussels most likely started as a military outpost with a village below the hill.

There is a main artery of this village, called the Steenweg (stone way), which still runs from the Vlaamsepoort to the Naamsepoort. Right at the centre was the Old Market (the square where today’s Grasmarkt starts), situated on the Steenweg itself, right beside the Sint-Niklaaskerk.

The church, which started as a chapel to the Saint Nicholas Hospice for tradesmen, was closely tied to trade.

What we see today which are houses around the church, used to be the church’s graveyard, called simply as the Sint-Niklaaskerkhof. When the Old Market spilled over, people began selling on top of the graveyard, leading to stalls being set up to form what was known as the Sint-Niklaasmarkt (Saint Nicholas Market)!

As explained below, the church forms a D-shape to accommodate a small stream running beside the church known as the ‘Spiegelbeek‘ (Mirror Brook). Records show that sellers would go on the ‘Beek‘ to ply their goods.

The Imposing Tower of Saint Nicholas: Sint-Niklaastoren

The Sint-Niklaastoren was a formidable bell tower attached to the church that also served as the city’s belfry. While explicitly named as such in 1533, its bells had regulated city life since the 14th century, and from 1439, it also safeguarded important city charters. This dual role made it a central symbol of civic power and daily order in medieval Brussels.

The tower’s history is marked by structural instability, suffering from as many as three major collapses!

It was mentioned as early as 1289 and partially collapsed during a violent storm in 1367. It was rebuilt in 1380, preserving the Romanesque base but adding a new octagonal upper structure.

While the maps of Van Deventer (1550), Braun and Hogenberg (1572) and de Tailly (1640) all show a formidable tower of the Sint-Niklaaskerk, the best representation is from the painting in 1690 by Theo van Heil when a nearby house ‘Den Wolf‘ on the Grote Markt caught fire.

In 1662-65, architect Leo van Heil (1605-ca.1664) [*cousin of Theo van Heil through his uncle Daniel van Heil] added an extra floor and a dome to house a magnificent new carillon of 38 bells. The belfort was technologically advanced for its time. It was equipped with one of the world’s oldest visual clock movements (circa. 1362) and an early clockwork automaton (circa. 1551). By the 17th century, it featured four clock faces and a sophisticated carillon, establishing it as a landmark of civic pride and horological innovation.

The second major collapse was in 1695, after the French Bombardment of Brussels, when the Sint-Niklaastoren fell after a fire.

The tower’s final chapter began in the early 18th century. Following the 1695 collapse, architect Willem De Bruyn (1649-1719) was tasked with its restoration. His ambitious design replaced the upper structure with three new floors and a heavy stone spire. If you look at the drawing below, it can tell it was enormous. However, this proved fatal; the tower, likely overburdened by the weight of the bells, collapsed completely in 1714.

For a good look at how the Sint-Niklaastoren appeared before 1714, it is best to check out the etchings done in 1714 by Joannes Laurentius Krafft based on the drawings of Aurelius Augustin Coppens. Krafft made a series of 8 etchings entitled “Vues & ruines de la Tour de St Nicolas à Brusselles […] comme aussi les ruines de la tour du Miroir & maisons des orfèvres“. One of the etchings showed the collapsed state of the tower in 1714.

The collapse prompted a jeering song from the inhabitants of nearby Mechelen (called the ‘Maneblussers‘ because they tried to extinguish a fire on their church tower only realising it was the moon):

“Het is beter te blusschen sonder brandt,
Als thorens te bouwen sonder verstandt.”
“It is better to extinguish without a fire,
Than to build towers without understanding.”

After this third major collapse, the city decided to abandon the project of rebuilding the tower entirely. A model for a replacement was made in 1715 but never executed. Since then, the Saint Nicholas’ Church has remained without its once-imposing bell tower, a permanent end to its long and turbulent history as the city’s belfry.

The Destructive French

The church suffered significant damage during the French Bombardment of Brussels in August 1695, led by Marshal de Villeroy. Like most buildings around the Grote Markt, the Sint-Niklaaskerk was heavily struck by the attack. A major fire broke out, causing the bell tower to collapse. Only the former chapel and the choir area remained somewhat intact. A lasting reminder of this event is a cannonball, still embedded in one of the nave’s pillars to this day.

From the drawings of Aurelius Augustin Coppens, Richard van Orley (II) made etchings from the series “Perspectives des ruines de la ville de Bruxelles” that captured the destruction in 1695. Two out of the etchings used the tower of the Sint-Niklaaskerk as the anchor to mark the position of the artist, one from the Fish Market and the other from the Meat Market. In both cases, it is clear that the tower was severely damaged.

Again during the French Occupation (1795–1814), the Sint-Niklaaskerk faced a different threat. It was nationalized and, under a 1796 law, ordered to be sold off. The church was closed in 1797, and its entire contents, along with the building itself, were auctioned off in lots in 1799. Fortunately, the property was bought by its own parishioners (Ferdinand Meeus, Guillaume Vandenesse and Pierre-Jean de Noville).

After worship was restored in 1802, three former churchwardens repurchased the lots, allowing the church to be returned to the religious community. The subsequent restoration was completed by 1807, reinstating the church as a place of worship.

The Fountain of the Three Goddesses

For centuries, the north side of the Sint-Niklaaskerk along the main artery of Steenweg, on what was then called the “Oude Markt” (Old Market), was graced by a remarkable and somewhat scandalous fountain: the Fountain of the Three Goddesses (Drie Godinnen), also known as the Three Maidens/Virgins (Drie Maagden). This was no ordinary water source; it consisted of a central pillar crowned with a needle-like spire, surrounded by three niches. Within each niche stood a statue of a naked woman, from whose breasts water jetted into a basin below.

First recorded as the “Dry Goddinnen“, the fountain appeared in an act dating from 1382: “te Sinter Claes in brucele, bi den puttenborre” (at Saint Nicholas in Brussels by the water well). Most likely drawing water from an existing well known as the Sint-Niklaasborre (Saint Nicholas Well) recorded in 1286.

It is not known who sculpted the first statues. But the fountain was renovated at some point, while retaining the general concept, probably by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder in the early 17th century. During a renovation in 1676, the three statues were painted by a Peter van de Winckel.

The scandalous fountain was at the heart of the city’s bustling market life. However, its most infamous moment came during the religious wars. On 6 June 1579, after a tense standoff with royal troops, Calvinist rebels (Geuzen) stormed the Sint-Niklaaskerk, smashing altars and statues. In a scene of deliberate sacrilege, they then dressed in looted priestly vestments, danced drunkenly around the Three Goddesses fountain, and drank wine from stolen chalices!

The Drie Godinnen fountain was the subject of rich urban legends. One tale claims that in 1477, to celebrate the marriage of Duchess Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian of Austria, the fountain spouted wine instead of water. A thirsty sailor allegedly drank directly from the breasts and died of intoxication on a street corner. As penance, his ashamed parents built a new fountain on that spot, and the Three Goddesses were never allowed to spout wine again.

A more elaborate 19th-century occultist legend linked the fountain to the supposed founder of Brussels, Karel van Neder-Lotharingen (953-992) [No, he did not]. In this story, the three maidens were kidnapped by a rival lord. While imprisoned, they kept Karel alive by nursing him. Though he eventually defeated his rival, the maidens were executed. They were buried under a memorial that became the fountain — a monument to their life-saving nurture.

During the 1695 French Bombardment of Brussels, the Fountain of the Three Goddesses actually survived while the Sint-Niklaaskerk’s tower and much of the Grote Markt were destroyed.

By 1776, the statues were weathered, and the city held a competition to replace them. Although sculptor François-Joseph Janssens won, the city’s empty coffers prevented the project from starting. The iconic goddesses were simply removed and replaced with an obelisk, and later, in 1826, a simple piston pump.

Despite its physical disappearance, the fountain lived on in the city’s soul. The location was still called “Coin des Trois Pucelles” on maps from 1840, and it inspired a sensual poem by Belgian writer Emile Verhaeren (1855–1916) and an anti-Jacobin satire “Les trois pucelles” by Charles Gheude.

No one knows what the original Romanesque appearance of the Sint-Niklaaskerk was like.

On our map from 1572 and even the oldest Deventer map of 1555, we see that the tower was already there.

Like most old churches, the Sint-Niklaaskerk was built in phases. What has been consistent is its asymmetrical appearance. When constructing the nave, architect Pieter van Roedingen had to create a clearly visible bend in the choir on the left side to accommodate the Spiegelbeek stream, which ran along the building site to today’s Grasmarkt. The choir was completed in 1361, and the Sint-Niklaaskerk was expanded in 1486 with the addition of the left chapel. In 1622, Sint-Niklaaskerk became a true parish church for the first time.

As mentioned above, the tower was Sint-Niklaaskerk’s most conspicuous feature. As it has collapsed several times, after its third major collapse, the Sint-Niklaaskerk has remained towerless until today.

The Romanesque Pillar

During the major construction projects in Brussels at the end of the 19th century, the Sint-Niklaaskerk stood in a disturbing location. Until the 1930s, there were plans to demolish and rebuild it. However, these plans foundered due to the churchwardenship’s ownership rights and the high costs of expropriations. Ultimately, the government and the churchwardenship reached an agreement on the installation of a Gothic façade in Massangis stone and Anstrude stone for the sculpted elements. In the 1950s, major restoration work was carried out on the entrance portal and the west side of the church by Brussels city architect Jean Rombaux (1901-1979). He accidentally unearthed some foundations of the original twelfth-century hospice, and moved the front facade forward. During the same period, a stained-glass window designed by the artist Guy Chabrol was installed above the entrance portal. Above the church portal, Rombaux placed a bas-relief by artist Lacroix.

The Treasures of the Sint-Niklaaskerk

Despite all the trials and tribulations that the Sint-Niklaaskerk has suffered, there are still some art treasures you can find there today.

Upon entering the church, you will see a 17th-century polychrome statue depicting Jesus after the flagellation (Ecce Homo). Look out for his left foot where a reliquary was placed in 1815.

A small but beautiful painting of the Virgin and the Sleeping Child – “De Maagd met het slapend Kind” – has been assessed by art historians as originating from the workshop of Brabant baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens.

The most remarkable work from 1494 however is no longer in the Sint-Niklaaskerk: Martelaarschap van Crispinus en Crispinianus (the Martyrdom of Crispinius and Crispinianus). The church originally housed this magnificent triptych by Aert van den Bossche. These were the patron saints of the shoemakers’ guild. Today, the work has been dispersed among various museums. The central panel is in the National Museum in Warsaw, and the front of the right panel — transferred to canvas — is preserved in Brussels’ Broodhuis.

The most eye-catching piece is the Shrine of the Martyrs of Gorcum, known in Dutch as the “Schrijn van de Martelaren van Gorcum“:

The story happened in the context of the Eighty Years’ War (1566/1568–1648) when the Protestant northern Netherlandic provinces broke away from the Catholic Habsburg Empire.

In 1572, the so-called ‘watergeuzen‘ (Sea Beggars) – a group of Protestant guerilla group – led by the revolting Willem II van der Marck (1542-1578) and Willem Bloys van Treslong (1529-1594), captured the South Holland town of Den Briel from the imperial Habsburg control. Shortly thereafter, the nearby town of Gorcum also surrendered to the watergeuzen. Seventeen Catholic priests and two lay brothers were arrested there and taken to Den Briel, where they were tortured and ultimately executed. They went down in history as the “Martyrs of Gorcum.”

In 1618, friars from the Klooster van de Minderbroeders-Recoletten (Monastery of the Franciscans) nearby the Sint-Niklaaskerk secretly excavated the relics of the martyrs of Gorcum and carried them in procession to the monastery in Brussels. There, they were given a shrine and were venerated from then on.

Following the dissolution of the Franciscan Monastery during the French Occupation (1795–1814), the shrine was moved to the Sint-Niklaaskerk.

The current version of the gilded copper shrine was made in 1886 in the workshop of goldsmith Franz-Xaver Hellner (1819-1901) in Kempen. It was a gift from the Archbishop of Mechelen, Victor Augustus Deschamps, (1810-1883). The reliquary rests on carved lions. Francis van Rooy is enthroned on the front. He was born in Brussels to a prominent family. This perhaps explains his privileged position between Saint Michael (patron saint of Brussels) and Saint Nicholas (patron saint of Sint-Niklaaskerk). In the side niches, nine statues of the martyrs are displayed in their clerical attire. On the back, we find Mary enthroned, together with Boniface and Francis van Outers. The roof is decorated with six scenes from their history.

As Brussels’ oldest surviving church structure, the history of the Sint-Niklaaskerk is closely tied to the history of the city. Now without its imposing magnificent tower, the church still holds many secrets whispering stories from its colourful past.

Do not forget to look out for the canon ball stuck in its wall since 1695, as well as its Romanesque pillar near the entrance.

The stream that influenced the church’s shape is no longer running. Nor is the scandalous Fountain of Three Goddesses. Traders are today replaced by tourists.

Today, in front of the church, is a copy of a stone sculpture called Het Melkboerinnetje (The Milkmaid) by 17th century sculptor Marcus de Vos. It was placed here only in 1922 in the Boterstraat, as a reminder of a Brussels legend.

The legend originated in the 1670s. The story revolves around a young lady who sold milk on the streets of Brussels. Her dream was to get rich quickly. This led her to deceiving her customersL first by adding water to her milk, second by using a counterfeit measure. When, after her death, she knocked on the gates of heaven but Saint Peter refused her entrance. As a punishment for her deception, he sentenced her to wander the streets of Brussels every night at midnight, crying out loud. The people of Brussels were so terrified of the ghostly appearance of the wailing Milkmaid, that many people no longer dared to walk around the city at night. Eventually, they begged the Amtmann to exhume her remains and give her a proper burial. The Amtmann and the aldermen agreed. This also marked the end of the spooky apparition of the Milkmaid. To this day, this statue serves as a warning to shopkeepers, encouraging them to always act honestly and never cheat their customers.

Sources:

Vannieuwenhuyze, B. (2011) “Brussel, de Ontwikkeling van een middeleeuwse stedelijke ruimte.” Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Henne, A. Wauters, A. (1845) “Histoire de la ville de Bruxelles. Volume I-III” Brussels: Librairie Encyclopédique de Périchon.
Rombaut, J-A. (1777) “Bruxelles illustrée, ou description chronologique et historique de cette ville.” Brussels: Chez Pauwels.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Niklaaskerk_(Brussel) 
https://historiek.net/de-brusselse-sint-niklaaskerk-een-bijzonder-godshuis/70950/
https://monument.heritage.brussels/nl/buildings/36909
https://www.absolutefacts.nl/belgie/sint-niklaaskerk/
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontein_van_de_Drie_Godinnen

1. 1. Van Deventer, J. (1550-1565) “Atlas of the city of the Low Countries : 73 minutes between 1550-1565 on orders of Emperors Charles V and Philip II” KBR (image)
   2. Braun, G, Hogenberg, F. (1572-1617) “Civitates orbis terrarum” , Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrechtm (image)
   3. de Tailly, M., van der Horst, N., Santvoort, A. D. (1640) “Bruxella nobilissima Brabantiae civitas anno 1640” KBR (image)
   4. Van Heil, T. (1690) “Brand in Den Wolf in 1690” Louvre (image)
   5. Coppens, A. (1695) “De Sint-Niklaaskerk te Brussel na het bombardement van 1695” Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België (image)
   6. Van Orley, R. (1695) “Ruïnes bij de Vismarkt te Brussel, 1695, Augustin Coppens” Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (image)
   7. Van Orley, R. (1695) “Ruïnes in de Beenhouwersstraat te Brussel, 1695, Augustin Coppens” Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (image)
   8. Krafft, J. (1714) “Saint-Nicolas Bruxelles, Augustin Coppens” Wikimedia (image)
   9. Krafft, J. (1714) “Vue des ruines de la Tour de St Nicolas de dedans l’église vers l’orchestre, Augustin Coppens” Wikimedia Commons (image)
   10. Coppens, A. (1714) “Sint-Niklaaskerk” Wikimedia Commons (image)
   11. Unknown (1714?) “Sint-Niklaaskerk” Wikimedia Commons (image)
   12. Lacroix, Paul (1877) “Les Arts au Moyen Age et a l’Epoque de la Renaissance” París (image)
   13. Stroobant, F. (1885-1887) “Le beffroi (tour) de l’église Saint-Nicolas” Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles (image)
   14. Rubens, P-P. (first half of 17th century) “Madonna and Child” Sint-Niklaaskerk Brussel (image)
   15. Van den Bossche, A. “Martelaarschap van Crispinus en Crispinianus” (1494) National Museum Warsaw, Broodhuis Brussels (image)
   16. Unknown (1907?) “Bruxelles Eglise Saint-Nicolas près de la bourse” Cohn-Donnay et Co (image)
   17. Dufourdon (1778) “Vue et perspective des Trois Pucelles et de l’église Saint Nicolas à Bruxelles” Wikimedia Commons (image)
   18. Witkowski, G-J. “Heyli-Schenderye der beld-stromers geschiet binnen Brussel 1579, after 1579 drawings” Wikimedia Commons (image)