Old Church
The Oude Kerk, or Old Church, is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church and the oldest building in the city—founded around 1213 and consecrated in 1306 as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Built in brick in a Holland Gothic style, it began on a wooden chapel on this same site, before that earlier structure was replaced by a stone church. Its identity shifted with the Reformation: after the Dutch Revolt and the Alteratie in 1578, the church became Reformed and Calvinist, a Protestant congregation that it still serves today. The building’s form also changed through time—its aisles were lengthened and reshaped around the choir, and in the 15th century north and south transepts were added to create a cross formation, completed by 1460. The church was repeatedly hit during conflict, including the Beeldenstorm of 1566, when a mob destroyed much of its art and fittings—except for ceiling paintings that were out of reach. …
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