The Basilica of Hanswijk stands south of the centre on the Hanswijkstraat and was built between 1663 and 1678 around a venerated wooden statue of the Virgin that, according to tradition, was brought down the Dijle in a boat that ran aground at this spot in 988. The unusual Greek-cross plan and the high dome at the crossing make it one of the most ambitious baroque churches in the Southern Netherlands.
Every seven years the Hanswijk Procession winds through the streets — a major Marian procession with floats and costumes dating back to 1272, claimed as the oldest continuous Marian procession in the Low Countries. The next is in 2030.