Church of Notre-Dame de Laeken

This grand neo-Gothic church in the northern Brussels district of Laeken was commissioned in memory of Belgium's first queen and designed in the nineteenth century by the architect Joseph Poelaert. Its twin spires rise over a royal crypt that serves as the burial place of the Belgian monarchs, set beneath the choir. Surrounded by a historic cemetery with elaborate tombs and funerary sculpture, it stands near the royal estate. The lofty vaulted interior and the dynastic vault make it a place of national as well as religious significance.