The Grote Kerk of

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

, officially the Church of Our Lady ('' Dutch: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk'', or ''Grote Kerk'') is a large church in the

Brabantine Gothic Brabantine Gothic, occasionally called Brabantian Gothic, is a significant variant of Gothic architecture that is typical for the Low Countries. It surfaced in the first half of the 14th century at St. Rumbold's Cathedral in the city of Mechele ...

style, and the largest church in the city. It was built between 1284 and 1470, though some parts are newer. It became a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church in 1572, and remains an active church, now owned by the

Protestant Church in the Netherlands The Protestant Church in the Netherlands (, abbreviated PKN) is the largest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Netherlands, consisting of historical Calvinism, Calvinist and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. It w ...

History

Early records of the church are scarce. A chapel in Dordrecht is mentioned in a chapter of 1122, although the exact date of when the church was established is unknown. In 1986, excavations in the church uncovered the remains of a thirteenth-century Romanesque apse belonging to the previous building, with the interior being 9 meters in width. The oldest standing part of the church is the 'Mariakoor', or ''St. Mary's Quire'', built between 1284 and 1285. Dordrecht Grote Kerk Onze Lieve Vrouwe Innen Chor 4

Dordrecht Grote Kerk Onze Lieve Vrouwe Innen Chor 4

In 1367, the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of Our Lady was elevated to the status of a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

, and the Romanesque building was demolished. On June 29, 1457, a fire, which started in Kleine Spruistraat, spread quickly to other streets causing massive destruction, and the church was severely damaged. Everaert Spoorwater, an architect from the southern Netherlands, led the reconstruction in the Brabantine Gothic style. The ceiling mostly consists of

rib vault A rib vault or ribbed vault is an architectural feature for covering a wide space, such as a church nave, composed of a framework of crossed or diagonal arched ribs. Variations were used in Roman architecture, Byzantine architecture, Islamic a ...

s, except for the Mariakoor which contains a lierne vault. The choir stalls were made between 1538 and 1542. The church was ransacked by the Geuzen in 1572, when the building was whitewashed, the statues destroyed, and the altars desecrated. The building was converted into a Protestant church and it remains one today.

Tower and Clock

The tower was originally begun in 1339, however it was severely damaged, along with the church, in the city fire of 1457. Originally meant to be capped with a stone octagon and spire (similar to Utrecht Cathedral), due to the soft Dutch soil causing the tower to lean, it was left unfinished by 1506. The tower was restored from 1953 to 1973, when subsidence was halted. In 1626, it was capped with four Baroque clock faces, and a small roof. The clock mechanism was made by Jan Janszoon in 1624. It was converted into a pendulum clock in 1663 The tower contains 275 steps to the top, and for a small fee can be climbed by visitors.

Bells

The bells of the current building are first mentioned in 1460, and there are currently 67 bells. In 1966 a carillon was gifted to the church, hanging alongside a medieval bell of 1460 dedicated to St. John. Six of the carillon bells can be swung including the bourdon, the largest swinging bell in the Netherlands, weighing 10 tons (9830 kilograms) and cast by Eijsbouts in 1999. The bells can be rung both by hand (with ropes) and electronically (with motors). In 2020, the church installed ten additional bells hung for

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in ...

, which are the first peal of change ringing church bells in the Netherlands, and the heaviest such peal in mainland Europe. The lightest six bells were newly cast for the church in 2020, by Emanuele Allanconi of

Crema, Italy Crema (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio at from Cremona. It is also the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Crema, who gave the title of city ...

. The heaviest four bells came from the redundant church of St. Mary, Harrogate,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and were cast by

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

in 1915.

Gallery

File:Van Ruysdael, Salomon, View of Dordrecht, ca. 1660.jpg,

Salomon van Ruysdael Salomon van Ruysdael (c. 1602, Naarden – buried 3 November 1670, Haarlem) was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter. He was the uncle of Jacob van Ruisdael.

, ''View of Dordrecht'', ca. 1660, showing the church dominating the city skyline File:Brooklyn Museum - Dordrecht, the Grote Kerk from the Canal - Eugène Louis Boudin - overall.jpg, Brooklyn Museum - Dordrecht, the Grote Kerk from the Canal - Eugène Louis Boudin - overall File:Dordrecht Grote Kerk Onze Lieve Vrouwe Chor 2.jpg, The back of the church

References

{{Coord, 51, 48, 51, N, 4, 39, 36, E, region:NL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Rijksmonuments in Dordrecht Churches in South Holland Protestant churches in the Netherlands Protestant churches converted from Roman Catholicism Gothic architecture in the Netherlands