Our Lady of the Dunes

On the edge of the dunes in Mariakerke stands Ostend’s oldest church, the little Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Duinenkerk, known to everyone as the Duinenkerkje (“the little dune church”). A chapel is first mentioned here in 1171; after the storms of 1334 swept the coast, the present Gothic church was built in the second half of the 14th century. It was badly damaged during the Siege of Ostend in 1601, its tower was rebuilt in 1638, and the city architect Gustaaf Vandamme restored and extended it in 1929.

Inside, the church has a remarkable collection for a village church: rococo oak panelling and a pulpit by the Bruges woodcarver Frans Feys from the 1760s, a Tournai-stone baptismal font from 1594, a wind rose set in the floor in 1769 and a high-altar painting of the defeat of the Spanish Armada from around 1625.

Most visitors come for James Ensor. The painter loved this church, campaigned from 1894 to save it and the surrounding dunes, and is buried in the churchyard under a simple brick and stone monument; flowers are laid on his birthday, 13 April. Since 2024, Daniel Spoerri’s walk-in bronze Ik, James Ensor, a reconstruction of the painter’s room made for the Beaufort triennial in 2003, has stood beside the church. There are no set visiting hours: the interior is usually only open for Mass. The Coast Tram stop Mariakerke Duinenkerkje is a few minutes’ walk away.