Nicolas Church inside

 

Following up on yesterday's post I have 2 photos that were taken inside the Nicolas Church in Oldenzijl. This is the view in the direction of the choir. The pulpit on the right side dates from 1768 and is in Rococo style.

I found this small window in a side wall. It's a so-called quatrefoil (vierpas in Dutch), a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry, and traditional Christian symbolism. The word quatrefoil means 'four leaves', referring specifically to a four-leaved clover, but applies in general to four-lobed shapes in various contexts. (from Wikipedia)

Another interesting detail from the Dutch Wikipedia site about the church is that they say that this quatrefoil probably served as a 'hagioscope' or 'squint', an architectural term for a small opening or tunnel at seated eye-level through the wall of a church, that enables a view for one or more worshippers in side-chapels, chantry chapels, or other parts of the church from which the high altar was not visible.
If you're interested check the link for hagioscope for more facts.

Nicolas Church in Oldenzijl

The beautiful Nicolas Church at the edge of  the village of Oldenzijl is partly Roman and partly Early Gothic, and was built in the 13th century. The original -separately standing- church tower was taken down in 1829. It's a protestant church now.

This photo shows that the church is standing on a 'terp', an artificial mound that provides safe ground during storms, high tides and sea or river flooding. In this region of the Netherlands a terp is called "wierde".

I will show you a view inside the church in tomorrow's post.

Zandeweer church

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the church in Zandeweer dates from the Middle Ages and was built in the 13th century.

There is a 15th century bell tower standing separate from the church. During WW2 the Germans took the 2 bells from the tower to melt them down, though when the war was over the bells were found unharmed.

View to the back of the church. Our hike continues..

Uniastate

These 2 photos were taken from the train passing the small vilage of Bears, located between Leeuwarden and Mantgum. A few centuries ago the notable Unia family lived here in their castle.

When their home was demolished in 1756 the estate was left abandoned for hundreds of years, and in the end only the original entrace gate survived the times. Around the year 1990 the idea came to "rebuild" the castle, and on the same spot where once the walls were, a life-size steel replica arose like an illusion or fata morgana. It is called 'Uniastate' and can be visited.

View into Súd

View into a street in the centre of Workum named Súd. In the background is the 15th century Reformed St. Gertrudis Church.

I noticed the estate agency ('makelaardij' in Dutch) on the corner had a nice sign. And yes that must be Christmas lights still hanging there..;)   (photo taken last Saturday)

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Rolde village square

Rolde is a lively village near Assen in the Dutch province of Drenthe. and has about 4,000 inhabitants. In the background is the Jacobus Church.

Gasselte church

The Protestant church in Gasselte, known as 'het witte kerkje' or the 'little white church'. The building dates from the 14th century.

With more than a hundred graves the cemetery is one of the larger ones in the region.

Oldehove church tower

The Oldehove is an unfinished church tower in the old city of Leeuwarden. During construction -around the year of 1530- the tower began to sag and the project was stopped. In 1595 the then derelict church was demolished, but the brick tower remains. Today it leans more than the tower of Pisa in Italy!

The Oldehove is listed as national heritage. And pictured on manhole covers throughout the city..

Veenkerk #2

I showed you the Veenkerk yesterday and told you a little about it's history, let's have a closer look at this tiny Peat Church today. Stepping inside brings you in a narrow hall, and then..

..a very basic church room with 6 chairs on each side facing the altar. We visited the church on Dec 26, hence the Christmas tree.

Veenkerk #1

The Veenkerk ("Peat Church") in the village of Barger-Compascuum was a small Roman Catholic church. It was built in 1874 in the raised bogs ('hoogveen' in Dutch) in this area, to serve those who lived and worked here to cultivate this area. Around the 1920s the church was in a bad state, and at at same time had become too small for the growing number of churchgoers -so it was decided to build a new and bigger church. The photo shows a replica of the original Veenkerk, which can be found at the Veenpark open-air museum now.

Church alley

View into the Kerksteeg (Church Alley) towards the church Bergkerk, in the centre of Deventer.

Woldendorp church

We started our hike today in Woldendorp, a village in the far north east of the Netherlands and part of the municipality of Delfzijl. This is the Petruskerk (St Peter Church), originally dating from the 13th century. During WW2 the church was badly damaged and needed a lot of renovation work after the war. The grave stones we saw were all from the early 19th century.

The church facade seen from the other side.

The side entrance was a beautiful wooden door.

Margaretha Church Odoorn

This is the Margaretha Church at the Valtherweg in the village of Odoorn. The Dutch Reformed Church originally dates from the 12th century; but only the vestry -at the back of the church- has original parts.

One of the windows at the other side. It seems as if that small window part there in the middle can be opened..

Church doors

 Both doors are from the Lom Stave Church, in the Gulbrandsdal region in Norway.

More Borgund Stave Church

I have another 2 photos to show you from the Borgund Stave Church, see also last Friday´s post. Look at the beauty of this carved piece..

.. and this is the clock tower, that stands separate from the church and dates from the Middle Ages.

Borgund Stave Church

From our cabin in Kaupanger -in west Norway, at the end of the Sognefjord- we visited the Borgund Stave Church. This church was built sometime between 1180 and 1250 AD with later additions and restorations. Its walls are formed by vertical wooden boards, or staves, hence the name "stave church".

Four carved dragon heads look over the overhanging roofs; they resemble dragon heads found on the prows of old Norwegian viking ships.

Old and new graves in the church cemetery.

Génestet church

The nice thing about a historical town is that there are small alleys to find and hidden inner yards to discover if you look well. In Delft we found this gate with a medallion portrait picturing the clergyman and poet P.A. de Génestet, who worked in the Remonstrant church that was named after him and that we found behind the gate.

The Génestet church is a neo-renaissance building from 1896, designed by L. Couvée and built on the site of a so-called 'secret church' from 1639. A secret -or clandestine- church ("schuilkerk" in Dutch) was a house of worship used by religious minorities, and was tolerated on condition that it was discreet and not conducted in public spaces. Clandestine churches were commonly built inside houses or other buildings, and do not show a public facade to the street.

Last breath

The Korte Ademhalingssteeg ("Short Alley of Breaths") connects the Great Church Square with the Central Square in Zwolle. The origin of this name is rather gruesome; it refers to the days in history in which criminals were lead to the scaffold at the central square. In this alley they literally drew their last breaths before being executed.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Sassenstraat Zwolle

View into the Sassenstraat in the direction of the 15th century Grote Kerk or Sint Michaëlskerk (Great Church or Saint Micheal's Church.

-- While I was preparing a blogpost for tomorrow I accidentally deleted the one that I had posted already for today (Whaaaa!), so this is a re-post. I'm terribly sorry because a few comments were deleted as well... I feel really clumsy :((

The swan as symbol

The swan with spread wings on the exterior wall of the Lutheran Church community centre in Utrecht symbolises Luther and the Lutheran Church, while the date refers to the month and year in which the centre in the Hamburgerstraat was built. The tile tableau on the photo was made by the local Westraven tile factory.