Church of St. Charles Borromeo: Antwerp’s Treasure

In this installment of ‘Larger Than Life: Architecture Through the Ages,' we visit a highlight of the Northern Baroque style.

On St. Charles Borromeo church, a façade with sculpted angels, saints, and flowers, with sides set slightly back and topped by small domes exemplifies the transition towards the more ornate high Baroque style. From top to bottom, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns decorate its three levels creatively mixing classical traditions. Mikhail Markovskiy/Shutterstock

This Belgian church was called the “Eighth Wonder of the World” at the time of its construction. St. Charles Borromeo church is among the most magnificent churches of the early Baroque era, and among the first built in that style in northwestern Europe. It cost so much that the builders, the Jesuits of Antwerp, were reduced to austerity measures.

Begun in 1615, the church was inspired by the Jesuits’ headquarters in Rome, the Church of the Gesu, which is considered the first Baroque church and was completed just 30 years earlier.