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.

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Mert Erkan Elalmış (3 years ago)
Had a short visit (15 minutes) on "open monumentendag 2022". The church has a lot of history. Royal family members are buried to this church. All of the explanations are in Dutch and English. It would take at least two hours to fully explore. Public toilet is available. Will definitely pay another visit when I have more time.

vinita john (3 years ago)
Beautiful interiors with a gorgeous old pipe organ. The church is not usually open for tourists, but I got lucky.

Jurian (3 years ago)
Stairs are short and not made for anyone above 6ft. That being said, it was a great experience. The view is beautiful, with the skylines of Den Haag and Rotterdam in the distance, and Markt right in front of you. Students get a discount on tickets!

Zoe Ryan (3 years ago)
Very reasonably priced at €10 per adult for the new and old church and to go up the tower. The tower is nearly 400 steps, there are lockers to leave your stuff before you climb up, be warned only one way up and down, so can be a tight squeeze if people are passing, there are three viewing platforms at different levels, the two highest are quite narrow, there is also a stop where the bells are, I really enjoyed this, despite being afraid for heights, but may not be for you if you can’t to heights/narrow spaces. The church is beautiful with lots of info inside

M M (3 years ago)
An amazing church! You can go inside and view Delft from the top of the church. Climbing the top will take a little long though, but its totally worth it. I recommend to visit this church when you’re in Delft.

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