MOSES & AARON CHURCH

The official Roman Catholic name of Moses and Aaron church is  Saint Anthony of Padua. The Moses and Aaron church started as a hidden church (not to be recognized as such from the street). In 1641 some leading Catholics bought a house in Breestraat (nowadays called Jodenbreestraat, Rembrandt lived there too) where a little statue of Moses stood in front. There a Franciscan priest began to celebrate Mass. In 1691 when the parish had bought some more houses around "Moses",  like the adjacent house with the statue of Aaron, a far bigger church was built between Breestraat and Houtgracht (today's Waterlooplein). It had a surface of 25 meters by 13 meters.  The middle part of the High Altar in the present church is from that Baroque church. 

After the occupation of the Netherlands by the French (1795) freedom of religion was officially restored and Catholics in Holland were allowed to built churches again and so, on the same spot of the hidden church came the present building, which got the then popular Neo-Classical design. It was built by the  royal architect from Brussels Tilman François Suys who had studied in Rome. From the outside it looks like a Roman temple.    The construction lasted from 1839 until 1841. On the 26th of October 1841 the church was solemnly consecrated and dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua. The statues of Moses and Aaron are still to be seen at the rear wall of the church on the outside. That's why the church got its "popular" name Mozes en Aäronkerk. Maybe it's flemish, but the Belgian manufacturer left one "a" out.

Ace of Hearts by Mesmaekers, Turnhout, Belgium, 1930's.	Mesmaekers, late 1940's.

MAP