Cultural heritage in Meerssen

The Basilica on the market square is also known as the 'showpiece of Mosan Gothic'. The middle section was built around 800 in Romanesque style by Charlemagne. Between 1320 and 1340, monks from Reims built the lower chancel in Gothic style (from the pulpit towards the altar). The middle section was later adapted to this style. The Basilica partially burned down in 1465 and in 1649 the church tower was partially destroyed in a storm. In 1773, it was demolished completely. The Basilica underwent two full restorations in the twentieth century. In 1938, Pope Pius Xi conferred it the status of basilica.

The original estate was built around 1725 in Louis XIV style. A few old walls near the park wing are all that remains of this original building. Behind the main building, a beautiful courtyard is surrounded by a manor farm, one wing of which boasts a coach house. Next to this house is a park with two ponds, created in the early twentieth century to beautify the older landscape park, which dates from around 1800.

Before 1836, the Basilica on the market square served as a simultaneum, or shared church, for both Catholics and Protestants. The relationship between the Catholics and Protestants was strained at best. Belgian King Leopold I, himself a Protestant, gave the Protestants a small church that ultimately bore his name: Leopoldskerkje (Leopold's Church).