The Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude was built to serve the Abbey of Nivelles, originally a monastery of Benedictine nuns founded by Itta of Metz, the widow of Pepin of Landen, and mother of Gertrude of Nivelles, the first abbess, in the 7th century. Her remains are buried in a chapel of the church. This structure was built in the early 11th century and consecrated in 1046 by Wazo, Bishop of Liège, in the presence of the Emperor Henry III. It is an example both of Mosan art and of Ottonian architecture. The westwork has been reconstructed. Its current appearance is the result of a long reconstruction finished in 1984, following severe damage from bombing by the German Luftwaffe in May 1940, in the course of the Battle of Belgium.
