Ursuline Winter Garden
Address Bosstraat 9A
City/Neighborhood Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver
Style(s)
- Art Nouveau
- Floral Art Nouveau
Original use
- Education
Année 1900
Architect(s) and/or artist(s)
- Unknown
Site web https://visitwintertuin.be/en/home/
Remarkable elements
- Stained glass
- Tiles-Ceramics
- Ironwork
- Sculpture
- Art painting
- Furniture
A true Art Nouveau marvel awaits visitors at the Ursuline Institute in Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, not far from Mechelen.
The religious institution was founded in 1841 by a group of eight nuns to educate young girls. The sisters were rather progressive and pushed education to the highest level. Within a few decades, their institute attracted young women from all over Europe and even from the United States and Australia.
The buildings were enlarged and embellished, and in 1900 a winter garden was added.
Far from the neo-Gothic style of the buildings as a whole, the "winter garden" was resolutely in keeping with the times, with slender cast iron columns, ornamental metal structures, and stained glass windows on every surface. The vast, arched glass roof is supported by a beautiful floral-style metal structure. The magnificent stained-glass windows depict climbing flowers and swallows against a golden sky. The two large stained-glass windows at each end of the room depict the sunrise and the sunset. More recent stained-glass windows adorn the south facade. Furthermore, the winter garden is surrounded by galleries adorned with sandblasted glass featuring typical Art Nouveau floral and plant designs. The architect and master glazier are unknown. One might imagine Raphaël Evaldre was the designer; he had already been involved in the decoration of the covered courtyard, which was destroyed in the first bombing raids in 1914.
The winter garden miraculously escaped destruction. The sisters never gave up; they had the institute and church rebuilt from 1915.
After the war, the winter garden was dismantled and moved in its entirety to a more secure space between two buildings. All the stained-glass windows were removed and reassembled exactly as they were! An incredible project. Electric lighting was installed, and beautiful chandeliers and sconces were created in the shape of bouquets of roses.
OLV01 - Unless otherwise stated © www.admirable-artnouveau.be for all photos