Saint Martins church of Sijsele

Location: Dorpstraat, 8340 Sijsele [gps]
Accessibility: freely accessible

Sijsele is a very old parish and it used to be a very large one.  Before the 10th century, there was already a church in the village.  De old Saint Martins church was part of the chapter of Utrecht.  The territory of the church of Sijsele reached the oldest walls of Bruges and contained among others the villages of Sint-Kruis, Vivenkapelle, Male and even a big part of the town of Bruges.  Nowadays, nothing remains anymore of that first church; it fell prey to the Geuzen (religious rebels).  A second church, built in the 17th century was destroyed in a fire.  A third one was erected in 1838 but proved to be too small already 50 years later.  The current church was inaugurated in 1897 in neo-gothical style, very typical for that era.