Saint-Ursmer Collegiate Church

The Collegiate Church of Saint Ursmer is a church in Lobbes, a town of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Originally built as a burial church for monks and abbots of nearby Lobbes Abbey, it developed into a pilgrimage church after Saint Ursmer was interred there. Around 823 a new, much larger church was built, the presently visible church building, Carolingian in style. It is the only Carolingian church building still relatively intact in Belgium, and also the oldest church building still in use in Belgium. The church was partially rebuilt and extended in the late 12th and early 13th century, in a Romanesque style. In 1865, the church underwent an far-reaching and intrusive renovation.