The Sint-Annakerk is a Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

, partly Gothic

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

, Roman Catholic church in Aldeneik

Aldeneik

Aldeneik, founded in 730, is a suburb of the Belgian town of Maaseik. It lies on the banks of the Meuse River, close to the border with the Netherlands, close to where the Bosbeek runs off it. According to legend it sprung up around a monastery set up by the Frankish sisters Herlindis and Relindis,...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. The church was begun in the 12th century and consists of a 3-aisle basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 in Mosan style

Mosan art

Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling...

 without transept

Transept

For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...

s. Originally, the church was part of the Aldeneik monastery. Since the 18th century it has been dedicated to Saint Anne

Saint Anne

Saint Hanna of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah...

.

History

Around the year 730 the nuns Harlindis and Relindis set up the Benedictine monastery of Eike on their father Adelard's estate. The monastery was destroyed by Vikings in the 9th and 10th century. Emperor Otto I

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...

 donated the monastery to the Prince-Bishopric of Liège in order to prevent local nobleman from seizing control of the monastery's properties. A collegiate chapter

Chapter (religion)

Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....

 was founded, which in the 12th century built the Romanesque church which partly survives in the present building. The westwork

Westwork

A westwork is the monumental, west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interior includes an entrance vestibule, a chapel, and a series of galleries overlooking the nave...

tower and the Gothic choir date from the 13th century, as do the primitive red and ochre murals, the oldest in Belgium.

Source