Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren

Amersfoort, Netherlands

The Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren ('The Tower of Our Lady') is a Late Gothic church tower which is 98.33 metres tall and reaches high above the inner city. It's one of the most eye-catching monuments in town and the third highest church tower in the Netherlands. The church that belonged to the tower was destroyed by a gunpowder explosion in the 18th century.

The first chapel on site was constructed on this site in the 14th century. In the 15th century the chapel was replaced by new church with three aisles. When the tower was built is not exactly known. Construction started around 1444 and was finished around 1470. The official documents of the construction were destroyed by the Protestants in 1579 during the reformation and the ensuing iconoclasm. The church and tower were taken over by the Protestants and no longer belonged to the Catholics.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Alberdingk Thijmstraat 9G, Amersfoort, Netherlands

See all sites in Amersfoort

Details

Founded: 1444
Category: Religious sites in Netherlands

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Koppelpoort (0,4 km)

Royal Palace of Amsterdam (41,5 km)
Nieuwe Kerk (41,6 km)
Oude Kerk (41,2 km)
Beurs van Berlage (41,4 km)
St. Martin's Cathedral (19,5 km)
Basilica of St. Nicholas (41,2 km)
English Reformed Church (41,4 km)
Waag (41 km)
Munttoren (41 km)

User Reviews

Natalia Li (4 years ago)
Impressi e tower with a pretty houses nearby which added up to a great walk. Currently closed but worth a visit when it reopens. It chimed every few minutes when we were there, that was also pleasant

Max (5 years ago)
The tour guide was nice

Tim Rottier (5 years ago)
Really nice church

John Kariuki (5 years ago)
The tour guide was really nice. The 1 hour at 12:30 is well timed so that by the time you get to the top, you hear the 1PM bells and another one at 1:15PM to start taking the stairs down. I don't speak Dutch (yet) so I did understand most of the tour guide's words but it's still an amazing experience.

Magdalena Ćwioro (5 years ago)
Nice viewpoint

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Photo from Flickr, copyright Andy Hay

Historic Site of the week

Argos Theater

The ancient Argos Theater was built in 320 BC. and is located in Argos, Greece against Larissa Hill. Nearby from this site is Agora, Roman Odeon, and the Baths of Argos. The theater is one of the largest architectural developments in Greece and was renovated in ca 120 AD.

The Hellenistic theater at Argos is cut into the hillside of the Larisa, with 90 steps up a steep incline, forming a narrow rectilinear cavea. Among the largest theaters in Greece, it held about 20,000 spectators and is divided by two landings into three horizontal sections. Staircases further divide the cavea into four cunei, corresponding to the tribes of Argos A high wall was erected to prevent unauthorized access into the theatron and may have helped the acoustics, but it is said the sound quality is still very good today.

Around 120 CE, both theaters were renovated in the Roman style.