St. Nicholas' Church, Utrecht, Netherlands

The St Nicholas' Church is a medieval parish church from the 12th century that was reconstructed in the 15th century into a gothic church. An unusual feature is the 14th century cupola painting in the crossing with its ornamental and geometric shapes.

References:

Visit Utrecht

User Reviews

Hans Brouwer (3 years ago)
Fijne mooie kerk. Verschillende orgels...warmte in kerkdienst en ander activiteiten..aanrader om eens te bezoeken

PATRICA Debruijn (3 years ago)
Een prachtige kerk met een mooi orgel.

Karin Dikken (4 years ago)
Oude parochiekerk. Iedere zondag PKN dienst. Daarnaast veel concerten. Mooie locatie voor concert of huwelijk. Bij mooi weer genieten in de besloten tuin.

Ben van de Ree (4 years ago)
Bezoekers kunnen 1X per maand op de eerste zondag van de maand van 12 - 16 u terecht en vanaf 26 juni elke zondag in juli en augustus. Er zijn dan vrijwilligers aanwezig die interessante informatie kunnen geven, heb ik ervaren. Voor verdere informatie kijk op: Kerkenkijken.nl Deze indrukwekkende protestantse Nicolaïkerk is van oorsprong een romaanse middeleeuwse (RK) parochiekerk uit de 12e eeuw met 2 torens die een eenvoudig puntdak hadden. De kerk is geweid aan Sint-Nicolaas. Deze naam verwijst naar haar ligging op een knooppunt van waterwegen, want de heilige Nicolaas is de beschermheilige van de schippers. In de 15e eeuw werd de kerk verbouwd tot een gotische kerk, waarbij o.a. de zijmuren verhoogd zijn, zodat er een 3 beukige hallenkerk ontstaan is. Ook werden de beide torens voorzien van hogere naaldspitsen. In 1581, na de reformatie wordt de zuidertoren verhoogd en voorzien van een carillon. Inmiddels staat dit oudste torenuurwerk van Nederland in een dwarsbeuk van de kerk ter bezichtiging en demonstratie opgesteld. In 1674 liet een storm de torenspits van de noorder toren instorten en deze is toen vervangen door een eenvoudig puntdak. Van de oorspronkelijke romaanse bouwstijl is alleen nog het tweetorenfront aanwezig. Dit gedeelte van de kerk is bijzonder omdat een parochiekerk normaal gesproken nooit twee torens kreeg: dat was voorbehouden aan kathedralen, klooster- en kapittelkerken. Een verklaring daarvoor ontbreekt tot nu toe. Bron: o.a. Wikipedia

Robert Kieser (9 years ago)
Beautiful architecture. Went in on a whim and the organ player showed us around the church and played for us. Moving.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.

Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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