OLV-Hanswijkbasiliek Northeast Belgium

This dome-crowned three-wing basilica has an unusual circular interior, a superb Paradise Lost pulpit and brilliant 1690 carved confessionals. An octagonal floor stone commemorates the pope’s 1985 visit. But its main treasure is the 'miraculous' Hanswijk Madonna statuette dating from 988, long an object of pilgrimage and still the centrepiece of Mechelen’s greatest religious pageant.