St Martin's Church

Unfinished Gothic church just off the main square

St Martin's (Sint-Martinuskerk) is Aalst's main church, a striking but unfinished Gothic structure begun in 1480 and never completed to the planned dimensions. The choir and transept are still impressive, and the church holds a notable collection of paintings.

The standout is a Rubens altarpiece showing St Roch interceding for plague victims — one of relatively few major Rubens works in this part of Flanders.

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A story
Construction began in 1480 under the architect Herman de Waghemakere, but funds and political will ran out before the nave could be finished — the building you see has only a stump where the proper nave should be. Inside, the high altar painting is a 1605 Rubens, "St Roch Asking Christ to Heal the Plague Victims."