Medieval churches in Netherlands
Exmorra Church
The church of Exmorra is a small one-aisled church from the 13th century. In ca. 1300 the nave was lengthened and a tower was added. Of this tower, which collapsed in 1836, only the lower part remains. That same year the wooden tower and the western facade were built. Until the church was restored in 1963-1966 it was covered with a thick coat of plaster, underneath which many traces of its original Romanesque condition ha ...Aldtsjerk Church
The Protestant church of Aldtsjerk or Saint Paul’s church was built in the mid-12th century. It represents the Romanesque style with a triple closed choir built out of brick covered with tuffstone. The tower dates from the 13th century and is like the church build out of brick covered with tuffstone. The church was once a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Paul but became a Protestant church after the protesta ...Dearsum Church
Saint Nicholas church in Dearsum is a Romanesque church from c. 1200 with a 13th-century tower build out of red brick. In the 16th century four large windows where added to the south side. The Pipe organ was built in 1895 by the Gebroeders Ademaand was restored in 1916 and 1983 by Bakker & Timmenga.Goutum Church
On the north side of Saint Agnes church in Goutum remnants of the an older tufa church from the 11th century or 12th century can be seen. The church was enlarged and heightened with brick in the 15th century and has a tower from the same century. The church was originally a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Agnes, becoming a Protestant church after the Protestant Reformation.Hantumhuizen Church
Hantumhuizen Saint Anne"s church was built in the first half of the 13th century out of red brick in Romano-Gothic style. The tower dates from c. 1200 and the quintuple closed choir date from the 18th century. The Pipe organ was built in 1907 by Bakker & Timmenga.Swichum Church
The nave of Saint Nicholas Church in Swichum was built in the 13th century and the semicircular choir dates from the late 13th century; both are built out of red brick. The tower was built in the 14th century and the furniture in the church dates from the 19th century.Augustinusga Church
The Protestant church of Augustinusga or Saint Augustine’s church was built in the 15th century. The tower is older, dating from the 13th century, was built out of brick. The building was once a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Augustine, becoming a Protestant church after the Protestant Reformation.Gytsjerk Church
Gytsjerk Saint Martin’s church is a late 12th century Romanesque church with a 19th-century facade. Over time the church was several times changed/converted but the North wall, South wall and choir show still beautiful signs of the Romanesque tuffstone church.Oentsjerk Church
Saint Mary church i Oentsjerk was built c. 1230 out of red brick and has a tower from the 14th century. On the West gallery is a monumental Pipe organ, built in 1871 by P. van Oeckelen.Easterlittens Church
The reformed church of Easterlittens was in catholic times known as St. Margaretha. The one-aisled nave was built in the 12th century, partly of tuff. The brick choir dates from the 13th century. In the 15th century the windows were enlarged and a sacristy was added to the north side. The south wall has a portal in manneristic style from 1655. The brick tower dates from 1854 and was designed by F. Stoett in a more or less ...Eastermar Church Ruins
The former Protestant church of Eastermar was demolished in 1868. Today only the medieval tower from the 13th century remains. The church is surrounded by a graveyard. Next to the tower stands a grave diggers building. The mechanical clockwork in the tower was made by the Gebr. van Bergen from Midwolda, Groningen in 1924.Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Seville Cathedral
Seville's cathedral, Santa Maria de la Sede, is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and is recognised as UNESCO World Heritage. After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years.
History
The basilica occupies the site of the great Aljama mosque, built in the late 12th century by the Almohads, the ruling Moorish dynasty, of which the only remaining parts are the Patio de Naranjas, the Puerta del Perdon (on Calle Alemanes, on the north side), and the Giralda (formerly the minaret, now the belltower).
Shortly after Seville's conquest by Ferdinand III, the mosque was converted into the city's cathedral. Its orientation was changed and its spaces partitioned and adorned to suit Christian worship practices. The internal space was gradually divided into chapels by constructing walls in the bays along the northern and southern walls. Almost the entire eastern half of the cathedral was occupied by the royal chapel that would hold the bodies of Ferdinand, his wife and Alfonso the Wise.
In 1401, city leaders decided to build a new cathedral to replace the grand mosque that served as the cathedral until then. Construction continued until 1506. The clergy of the parish offered half their stipends to pay for architects, artists, stained glass artisans, masons, carvers, craftsman and labourers and other expenses. Five years after construction ended, in 1511, the crossing lantern, or cimborrio, collapsed and work on the cathedral recommenced. The crossing again collapsed in 1888 due an earthquake, and work on the dome continued until at least 1903.
Architecture
The interior has the longest nave of any cathedral in Spain. The central nave rises to a height of 42 metres. In the main body of the cathedral, the most noticeable features are the great boxlike choir loft, which fills the central portion of the nave, and the vast Gothic retablo of carved scenes from the life of Christ. This altarpiece was the lifetime work of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancart.
The Capilla Mayor (Great Chapel), dominated by a vast Gothic retablo (altarpiece) comprised of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ, as well as Santa Maria de la Sede, the cathedral's patron saint. The lifetime's work of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancart, this is the ultimate masterpiece of the cathedral - the largest and richest altarpiece in the world and one of the finest examples of Gothic woodcarving anywhere.
The Giralda is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville. Its height is 105 m. The Giralda is the former minaret of the mosque that stood on the site under Muslim rule, and was built to resemble the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, Morocco. It was converted into a bell tower for the cathedral after the Reconquista, although the topmost section dates from the Renaissance.
The tomb of Christopher Columbus is one of the main attractions of the cathedral for visitors, housing the remains of the great explorer who died in poverty in Valladolid. The tomb itself is more recent, from the 1892, with four bearers presenting the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon and Navarra.