Domkerk

open: 11:00 - 15:15

Churches on this site have been dedicated to St Martin ever since the seventh century. The last in this series, the present-day Dom Church, is the only one in the northern Netherlands built in the Northern French Gothic style. Building activities for the present-day Dom Church began in 1254 and ended in 1520, when the construction of the nave came to a halt. The nave collapsed during a violent storm in 1674. The original plan of the nave is marked in the paving of Dom Square between the tower and the church, which have been separated since the nave collapsed. The view from the tearoom clearly shows that the church, the Pandhof (cloisters) and the chapter house formed a single whole. Save a minor interruption in 1672/1673, the Dom Church has been used for Protestant services since the Reformation in 1580. The 'Holy Sepulchre' and the altarpiece known as 'Anna te drieën' (St Anne with Mary and the infant Jesus) still show shocking evidence of 16th-century iconoclasm. Other remarkable features are the huge Bätz organ (1831), the tomb of Admiral van Gendt (1676) on the site of the former high altar, the pulpit and pews by Penaat (1926) and the windows in the transepts by R.N. Roland Holst.

Points of interest