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From the beginning, Gothic church architecture of the Netherlands was modeled on the major cathedrals in the neighbouring regions of France. Thus as early as the 13th century the large churches built in the area of the Schelde and Maas were based on the typical French design - a large aisled church with transepts, choir and ambulatory, whose nave was three stories high (arcades, triforium, and clerestory).
The former collegiate church of Mechelen, now St. Rumbold Cathedral (Sint-Romboutskathedraal), was started with the choir in 1342. Here a church type was created which was to be repeated many times, a type characterized both by the adoption of the style of 13th-century French cathedrals (though without the two towers at the west front) and by the use, above all in the interior, of a rich decoration consisting mostly of delicate tracery elements. The ground plan of ambulatory with seven radiating chapels and the three-story elevation of the nave followed classic French models.
The photo shows a view from south.
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