Nieuwe Kerk

Delft, Netherlands

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), formerly the church of St. Ursula (14th century), is the burial place of the princes of Orange. In 1584, William the Silent was entombed here in a mausoleum designed by Hendrick and Pieter de Keyser. Since then members of the House of Orange-Nassau have been entombed in the royal crypt. The latest are Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernhard in 2004. The private royal family crypt is not open to the public. The church tower is the second highest in the Netherlands, after the Domtoren in Utrecht.

The Nieuwe Kerk is remarkable for its fine tower and chime of bells, and contains the splendid allegorical monument of William the Silent, executed by Hendrik de Keyser and his son Pieter about 1621, and the tomb of Hugo Grotius, born in Delft in 1583, whose statue, erected in 1886, stands in the market-place outside the church. The tower was built 1396-1496 by Jacob van der Borch, who also built the Dom in Utrecht during the years 1444-1475. The monument for Hugo de Groot was made in 1781. The mechanical clock has 18 bells by Francois Hemony from 1659 and 30 modern bells. In the church tower there is a bell from 1662 made by Francois Hemony.

References:

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Kerkstraat 17-18, Delft, Netherlands
See all sites in Delft

Details

Founded: 1396
Category: Religious sites in Netherlands

More Information

oudeennieuwekerkdelft.nl
en.wikipedia.org
www.delft.nl

Rating

4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Delft City Hall (0,2 km)
Oude Kerk (0,3 km)
Vermeer Center (0,1 km)
Nieuwe Kerk (7,7 km)
Museum Het Prinsenhof (0,4 km)
Forum Hadriani (5,4 km)


Breda Castle (54,8 km)
Peace Palace (9,4 km)
Kinderdijk Windmills (24 km)
Rhoon Castle (17,2 km)
Van Nelle Factory (11,1 km)
Mauritshuis (8,2 km)
Haarlem City Hall (45,1 km)
Binnenhof (8,1 km)
Huis ten Bosch (9 km)

User Reviews

Rene Janssen (44 days ago)
Siteseeing Delft, the challenge is to climbing up the church-tower, and the rewards to have a amazing view over the city centre Delft. Stunning views, challenging steps to climb up.....have fun to discover Delft❤
Thomas Karanikas (2 months ago)
A wonderful place not yet visited from the inside
Manuel K (2 months ago)
Ask for English translation if you go for Dutch mass service. Very kind staff. They arrange ENglish bible & also with translator with headphone
George Skylark (2 months ago)
Amazing view at the Delft, Hague and everything that the weather let you see. 8euros to see both tower and church. I was amazed how much items has still remained here untouched.
Ashley Wilkinson (9 months ago)
Beautiful church that is also the resting place of the Dutch royal family (including Willem of Orange!) I would highly recommend climbing the tower at least once. Fair warning: It's a LOT of stairs, and it's also very narrow in places, with people going both up and down. But the view at the top is absolutely fantastic!!!
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Must-see historic sighs in Luxembourg
Photo from Flickr, copyright kangkeng

Historic Site of the week

Beersel Castle

The moated castle at Beersel is one of the few exceptionally well-preserved examples of medieval fortifications in Belgium. It remains pretty much as it must have appeared in the 15th century. Remarkably, it was never converted into a fortified mansion. A visitor is able to experience at first-hand how it must have felt to live in a heavily fortified castle in the Middle Ages.

The castle was built in around 1420 as a means of defence on the outer reaches of Brussels. The tall, dense walls and towers were intended to hold any besiegers at bay. The moat and the marshy ground along its eastern, southern and western edges made any attack a formidable proposition. For that reason, any attackers would have chosen its weaker northern defences where the castle adjoins higher lying ground. But the castle was only taken and destroyed on one occasion in 1489, by the inhabitants of Brussels who were in rebellion against Maximilian of Austria.

After being stormed and plundered by the rebels it was partially rebuilt. The pointed roofs and stepped gables are features which have survived this period. The reconstruction explains why two periods can be identified in the fabric of the edifice, particularly on the outside.

The red Brabant sandstone surrounds of the embrasures, now more or less all bricked up, are characteristic of the 15th century. The other embrasures, edged with white sandstone, date from the end of the 15th century. They were intended for setting up the artillery fire. The merlons too are in white sandstone. The year 1617 can be clearly seen in the foundation support on the first tower. This refers to restorations carried out at the time by the Arenberg family.

Nowadays, the castle is dominated by three massive towers. The means of defence follow the classic pattern: a wide, deep moat surrounding the castle, a drawbridge, merlons on the towers, embrasures in the walls and in the towers, at more or less regular intervals, and machiolations. Circular, projecting towers ensured that attacks from the side could be thwarted. If the enemy were to penetrate the outer wall, each tower could be defended from embrasures facing onto the inner courtyard.

The second and third towers are flanked by watchtowers from which shots could be fired directly below. Between the second and third tower are two openings in the walkway on the wall. It is not clear what these were used for. Were these holes used for the disposing of rubbish, or escape routes. The windows on the exterior are narrow and low. All light entering comes from the interior. The few larger windows on the exterior date from a later period. It is most probable that the third tower - the highest - was used as a watchtower.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2019 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.