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Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

Oude Kerk, Amsterdam

Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 1460
Access
Tickets required
Style
Gothic

A wooden chapel stood here by about 1213. The stone church was consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht, with Saint Nicolas as patron, and was built on an artificial mound over a cemetery. The aisles were lengthened about half a century later, and transepts were added shortly after 1400. Work was completed in 1460, though fires in 1421 and 1452 likely interrupted it.

It covers about 36,000 square feet (3,300 m²). The article calls the ceiling the largest medieval wooden vault in Europe, using Estonian oak planks dated to 1390. The floor is made of about 2,500 gravestones. The Beeldenstorm of 1566 destroyed much of the decoration and spared only the ceiling paintings.

It is the oldest parish church and oldest structure in Amsterdam. It is a Protestant church, and has hosted contemporary art exhibitions since 2012. The article names no style or architect.

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