Ename in a main trade center. When the village became property of the abbey, in the 11th century, the commercial activity of the trade settlement moved to the near center of Oudenaarde and the population decreased. The church was then too big for the village and the abbey transformed the lateral naves in several side chapels dedicated to the cult of different saints. In the 16th and 17th century the church was heavily modified. An octagonal structure was added on the top of the tower. Even if later removed, the weight of this addition provoked several damages in the structure of the tower. During the 1990s it was necessary to start the restoration of the building. Timeline of the changes Around 1175 the church was damaged by fire, traces of which are still visible on the stones on the outside of the building. Around 1500 the church was restored and modified in several parts both in the inside and on the outside. The double east choir was substituted with a high space demarcated by a gothic arch. The final part of the bell tower was redesigned with an octagonal shape. 1578 - 1592 in this period the church was probably abandoned. After the iconoclastic fury of 1566, the tension between Catholics and Protestants in the area was constant. In 1572 Oudenaarde was conquered by the Protestants and in 1578 the monks of Saint Salvator abbey fled. They finally returned around 1592, as a record of 1593 attested the damage in the building. In a layer of the church corresponding to this period, archaeologists have found the remains of several pellets composed of mice bones. They consider these remains as evidence of the disuse of the church, where birds were able to easily enter and nest. The works of restoration of the church ended around 1622, when the repair of the roof was completed. 1654 a new rectangular tower of the church was built. 1655 the abbey commissioned a new Baroque furnishing for the Lady Altar. In 1666 they commissioned a painting of the Nativity from Simon de Paepe, a painter from Oudenaarde. 1762 the orientation of the church was transformed: the portal in the wider west choir was closed and the space was transformed into the main altar. A gate was opened in the east choir, towards the main square. 1770 a new organ was placed above the entrance in