page_title: Gerardus Majellakerk (Tilburg)
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Gerardus Majellakerk (Tilburg) / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: The front and side (west and north facades) of the Gerardus Majellakerk in Tilburg. Nederlands: De voor- en zijkant (westelijke en noordelijke façade) van de Gerardus Majellakerk in Tilburg.
context_page_description: The Gerardus Majellakerk is a Roman Catholic church located in southern Tilburg along the Wassenaerlaan. It is dedicated to Gerard Majella, who became a saint in 1904, and has been part of the parish De Goede Herder since its inception in 2012.
  Designed by Joseph Cuypers and his son Pierre Cuypers jr., the church was built at the center of a new neighborhood and was completed in 1923. Originally, it was the parish church of its namesake parish. The consecration took place ten years later. The Gerardus Majellakerk came under the leadership of Capuchin priests in the early 1960s, and it became a place of pilgrimage for Padre Pio in 1988.
  The brick-built Gerardus Majellakerk has a wooden roof covered with tiles. The church has a floor plan of a basilica with a large nave, flanked by side aisles, and a choir. Since a 1988 renovation, part of the nave is used as a meeting place and a chapel dedicated to Padre Pio. A clergy house, that was built simultaneously with the church, is located next to the church.
context_section_description: The Gerardus Majellakerk has a basilica floor plan, pointing eastward. The structure is made out of bricks and has a wooden roof. The front facade includes a clock. The largest part of the church is the 35.5 m (116 ft) long and 16 m (52 ft) wide nave, which has a gable roof with red roof tiles. It is flanked by two lower side aisles, that are separated from the nave in the interior by piers, that support arches. Small windows are located above those. The side aisles are relatively narrow to increase the church's seating capacity.
  The interior of the nave is decorated with murals, and the ceiling has three different heights, connected by steps. Wooden rafters, that support the roof, are visible from the inside, and their joints are brightly colored. Part of the nave near the entrance has been modified in 1988 to be closed off from the rest of the space. This area now houses a meeting place, an office, and a chapel. There are seats for church choirs on the roof of this separated space.
  The choir is separated from the nave by a large arch, that is supported by sandstone columns and flanked by two smaller arches. The choir has sacristies with hipped roofs on both sides, giving the church a close to rectangular footprint, and is covered by a vault. The back of the church features a Christian cross and a rose window, showing Infant Jesus held up by Mary. The rose window also includes the text "Ik zal vijandschap stellen tusschen U en de Vrouw", a bible quote from Genesis 3:15 that can be translated as "I will put hostility between you and the woman".
  Behind the church, there's a bell tower, that has two bells and is comparable in height to the roof of the nave. Architect Joseph Cuypers wrote in an article in the newspaper Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant that he was unable to add a large church tower and suggested it could later be added on the north side. However, a church tower was never added.
  The Gerardus Majellakerk is connected on the southwest side to a clergy house, that was constructed together with the church and was designed by the same architects. It has three floors.
caption: The side and front facades
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