Date

Circa 1910

A large central three-aisled neo-Gothic church, dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. The church was designed by Jean-Baptiste Bethune. A Béguinage (Dutch; begijnhof) is a collection of small buildings used by Beguines, which were several lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries, of religious women who sought to serve God without retiring from the world. There are three in Ghent; Old Saint-Elisabeth (known as Holy Corner), New Saint-Elisabeth in Sint-Amandsberg (built 1873-1874 when Holy Corner was abandoned) and Our-Lady Ter Hooyen (known as Klein). St Elisabeth Begijnhof and the Klein Begijnhof were both founded in 1234. The entire group of Flemish Béguinages was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Arthur Verhaegen was the architect in charge of the new Sint-Amandsberg complex. Duke Engelbert von Arenberg had this neo-Gothic complex built in 1873-1874 to house 300 Beguines. The new beguinage was laid out within an 8-hectare walled area in Sint-Amandsberg, then an independent municipality but now part of Ghent.