Oudenbosch is well known for its 'Basiliek', a Catholic church that is a smaller copy of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The forest was cultivated from 1275 onwards by the monks of the Cistercian abbey of St Bernard near Antwerp.

[3][4] Ouden (old) was added to distinguish from Nieuwenbosch, a village which was lost in the St. Elizabeth's flood of 1421.

[4] In 1837, the monastery boarding school St Anna was founded, and Oudenbosch became a Catholic centre.

It was designed by Pierre Cuypers as a replica of St. Peter's Basilica, however the scale varies.