Saint Anthony’s Church

In front of you stands Saint Anthony’s Church, one of the oldest traces of the Franciscan presence in Liège; around 1240, the followers of Saint Francis settled here in close contact with the local population, and in 1244 they built this church in coal sandstone, originally reflecting the modest spirit of the Friars Minor, but over the centuries it was given a monumental Baroque façade and an interior decorated with stucco in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; damaged by a flying bomb in 1944, it was restored in a style close to its medieval appearance, with the thirteenth-century high altar reinstated and old tombstones set into the paving, and it also preserves elegant stained-glass windows based on drawings by the painter Lambert Lombard; deconsecrated in 1977, it was transformed into a cultural venue managed by the Province of Liège and today hosts exhibitions, concerts and events organised by the Museum of Walloon Life.