Haarlem - The Great Church

The highlight of our Haarlem trip was our visit to The Great Church, also known as St. Bavos. The Church of St Bavos was first mentioned in writing in the year 1313. The building of the church and it's many additions took place within a 150 year time span.



The outside of the church is breath-taking!



The intricate stone carvings are amazing!

The first thing you notice when you walk into the church is the cold chill. The temperature change between outside and inside the church was quite remarkable. The cold shivers didn't end there.....when we looked down we realized that the entire church floor was made of graves! Not only was this a church, but it was also a crypt. Each of the black rectangles on the floor was actually a slab of black marble carved with information about the deceased. Some carvings were quite elaborate, some quite simple, and some unreadable because of years of wear.

















Some of the gravestones carvings were quite dark (I don't mean the color) - Jagger became frightened while looking at them and clung to me and covered his eyes. Justice, Journey, and Jeff were very quiet as they looked around and I couldn't believe the chills that ran down my spine.



Always the gold-digger, Journey found a strange grave that had a golden colored mass on top of it. All of the other graves were black stone. This was the only one in the church that had a color on it. It looked as though it was covering up whatever was originally on the stone.




The church architecture was amazing!



Much of the original contents were changed during the period of Calvanistic rule. When the Prodestants took over the Catholic Church (changing the name from St. Bavos to The Great Church) they removed much of the Catholic "flaunts" and made the interior more subdued. They most likely destroyed some beautiful artwork, architecture, and stained glass windows. (On a side note: there are a number of "secret churches" in Amsterdam that were places of Catholic worship during the Calvanistic rule. We are hoping to visit one such church that was built on the top two floors of a very rich man's canalside home. From the outside it looks like a typical Dutch row house. Inside it has all the intricate details of a rich Catholic church. The church has been preserved and is still used for ceremonies.)




The most beautiful thing in the church had to be the organ! It was constructed between 1735 and 1738 by Christian Muller from Amsterdam. The organ has 5068 pipes and is almost 30 meters high.



George Frederick Handel played the organ in 1740 and 1750. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played it in 1766 when he was 10 years old.



The church pulpit - made in 1679.




The alter is surrounded by a gate. Some scary gargoyle-like statues are situated around the gate.



Justice in front of the alter gate.




Journey in front of the alter gate.




There are a few beautful stained glass windows.




These hanging ship models are the three oldest known models of Dutch warships.




A tomb in the center of the church




The baptistry - where christenings took place. In 1740 it became the vault of the mayor and his family.


The church visit was quite memorable, and a great educational experience for the kids. The two churches I have seen since then (to be documented later) pale in comparison.