Godshuis Cornelis Lantschot

Godshuis Cornelis Lantschot stands in Antwerp as a former almshouse built around a rectangular courtyard. Its brick and sandstone façades show regional Baroque detail beneath a hipped roof. A monumental entrance rises above the street, with columns, carved woodwork, ironwork, and a triangular pediment. Beyond it, small dwellings line three sides of a rectangular lawn.

Cornelis II Lantschot established the foundation in 1656 for older men needing housing and support. A chapel dedicated to Saint Rosalia occupied the entrance wing. The chapel later became an artist’s studio, warehouse, and home to the association De Kapel. Sculptors Ernest Wijnants and Willy Kreitz also worked there during the twentieth century.

Inside, white plastered walls and a wooden barrel vault frame a red-and-black marble altar. Stucco angels surround the Baroque structure, while a former altarpiece by Theodoor Boeyermans now belongs elsewhere. Restorations renewed the façade in 1958 and 1959, then the chapel in 1987 and 1988. Since 1983, the preserved complex has stood among Antwerp’s protected monuments.