The Oude Kerk (Old Church), nicknamed ''Oude Jan'' ("Old John") and ''Scheve Jan'' ("Skewed John"), is a Gothic

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 the old city center of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Its most recognizable feature is a 75-meter-high brick tower that leans about two meters from the vertical.

History

The Oude Kerk was founded as

St. Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

's Church in the year 1246, on the site of previous churches dating back up to two centuries earlier. The layout followed that of a traditional

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

, with a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

flanked by two smaller

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s. The tower with its central spire and four corner turrets was added between 1325–50, and dominated the townscape for a century and a half until it was surpassed in height by the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church). During its construction the foundations were not strong enough to support the building, and the church began to lean. As work continued, the builders tried to compensate for its lean on each layer of the tower, but to this day only the four turrets at the top are truly vertical. It is possible that the course of the adjacent canal had to be shifted slightly to make room for the tower, leaving an unstable foundation that caused the tilt. By the end of the 14th century, expansion of the side aisles to the height of the nave transformed the building into a

hall church A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...

, which was rededicated to St. Hippolytus. The church again took on a typical basilican cross-section with the construction of a higher nave between about 1425 and 1440. The Delft town fire of 1536 and the turmoil of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

brought a premature end to an ambitious expansion project led by two members of the

Keldermans family Keldermans is a family of artists, originating from Mechelen (an independent city surrounded by the Duchy of Brabant). The members of the family were mostly architects working in the Brabantine Gothic style. As the most important architects of thei ...

of master builders. This construction phase resulted in the flat-roofed, stone-walled northern

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

arm that differs markedly in style from the older parts. The great fire,

iconoclasm Iconoclasm ()From . ''Iconoclasm'' may also be considered as a back-formation from ''iconoclast'' (Greek: εἰκοκλάστης). The corresponding Greek word for iconoclasm is εἰκονοκλασία, ''eikonoklasia''. is the social belie ...

, weather, and the explosion of the town's gunpowder store in 1654 (''see

Delft Explosion Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is a part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan ...

'') took their toll on the church and its furnishings, necessitating much repair work over the years. During one renovation, the tower turrets were rebuilt in a more vertical alignment than the leaning body below, giving the tower as a whole a slightly kinked appearance. The current

stained-glass windows Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

were crafted by the master glazier Joep Nicolas in the mid-20th century.

Furnishings

The church possesses three

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

s, from the years 1857 (main organ), 1873 (north aisle) and 1770 (choir).

Bells

There are 2 bells that hang in the tower, The large ''Trinitasklok'' or ''Bourdon'', chimes every hour and the small Laudate which chimes every half hour. The larger of the two bells was cast in 1570 weighs nearly nine

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s, and because of its strong and potentially damaging vibrations, is rung only on such special occasions as the burial of a

Dutch royal family The monarchy of the Netherlands is governed by the country's charter and constitution, roughly a third of which explains the mechanics of succession, accession, and abdication; the roles and duties of the monarch; the formalities of communica ...

member in the nearby New Church. The massive bell is also sounded during disasters, when local air-raid sirens are sounded (but not during the monthly country-wide siren tests). In April 2020, the Bourdon was part of the "Bells of Hope" initiative as a token of appreciation for the relief workers and caregivers during the first weeks of the corona pandemic outbreak. The smaller of the two bells has an unusual story. In 1943 the clock, together with the one from the Nieuwe Kerk, was taken by the German occupier to be melted down. Fortunately that never happened; in 1946 Laudate was put back in its old place.

Graves

Approximately 400 people are entombed in the Oude Kerk, including the following notables: * Elizabeth Morgan, daughter of nobleman

Marnix van St. Aldegonde Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde, Lord of West-Souburg (Dutch: Filips van Marnix, heer van Sint-Aldegonde, heer van West-Souburg, French: Philippe de Marnix, seigneur de Sainte-Aldegonde; 7 March/20 July 1540 – 15 December 1598) was ...

(1608) * noblewoman and benefactrix Clara van Sparwoude (1615) * naval hero Piet Hein (1629) * writer

Jan Stalpaert van der Wiele Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

(1630) * naval hero

Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp or Maarten van Tromp (23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was an army general and admiral in the Dutch navy during much of the Eighty Years' War and throughout the First Anglo-Dutch War. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spe ...

(1653) * painter

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...

(1675) * painter Hendrick Cornelisz van Vliet, who had painted the church interior (1675) * statesman

Anthonie Heinsius Anthonie Heinsius (23 November 1641 – 3 August 1720) was a Dutch statesman who served as Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1689 to his death in 1720. Heinsius was an able negotiator and one of the greatest and most obstinate opponents of the ex ...

(1720) * scientist

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Antonie Philips van Leeuwenhoek ( ; ; 24 October 1632 – 26 August 1723) was a Dutch microbiologist and microscopist in the Golden Age of Dutch art, science and technology. A largely self-taught man in science, he is commonly known as " ...

(1723) * poet

Hubert Poot Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubert of Liège (or Hubertus) (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and m ...

(1733)

External links

Oude Kerk website

View of the Oude Kerk
painted by Jan van der Heyden, ca. 1660 (Web Gallery of Art) {{coord, 52, 0, 45, N, 4, 21, 19, E, type:landmark_region:NL-ZH, display=title 14th-century churches in the Netherlands Towers completed in the 14th century Rijksmonuments in Delft Brick Gothic Inclined towers Churches in South Holland Protestant churches in the Netherlands Gothic architecture in the Netherlands

History

Furnishings

Bells

Graves

See also

External links