Basilique Notre-Dame de Montaigu (Scherpenheuvel)

Scherpenheuvel-Zichem

It all began with an oak, on a hill between Zichem and Diest, whose natural fork suggested a cross and to which a small statue of the Virgin was fastened. Tradition tells that a shepherd found it fallen, tried to carry it off, and found himself rooted to the spot until a passer-by put it back on the tree. In 1602 a wooden chapel was built to channel the devotion; in 1604 the bishop of Antwerp had the oak felled, and its pieces went off as relics across Europe. The archdukes Albert and Isabella then charged their architect Wenzel Cobergher with building the church and laying out the town around it. The high altar stands on the exact spot of the tree.

Getting there : Free admission; the town itself was laid out by the architect of the basilica

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound