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The seventeenth-century Beguinage Church has a magnificent Baroque façade, after the Italian example. At the time Mechelen's beguines had capital and so were able to commission well-known architects. The plans were drawn up by the Jesuit Pieter Huyssens, but the actual work was overseen by Jacques Francart.
On the façade of the Beguinage church the verticality is strongly emphasized. The crowning element has expanded into a full-blown third story. (The relief God the Father (1646-47) is ascribed to Lucas Faydherbe.) In the interior Francart has also applied new ideas, the traditional row of arches in the nave has been replaced by massive square piers, strengthened with round half-columns, supporting the entablature.
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