Westerkerk - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Renaissance Architecture on Waymarking.com

"Westerkerk (English: Western Church) is a Dutch Protestant church in central Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It is next to Amsterdam's Jordaan district, on the bank of the Prinsengracht canal.

History

Several older churches in Amsterdam, such as Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk, were originally built by Roman Catholics and were converted to Protestantism during the Reformation in 1578. The Westerkerk was one of the first purposely built Protestant churches. The Noorderkerk and Zuiderkerk preceded the Westerkerk. Today the Westerkerk remains the largest church in the Netherlands that was built for Protestants.

The Westerkerk was built in 1620-1631 after a design by the late Renaissance architect Hendrick de Keyser in the Dutch Renaissance style and in the form of a patriarchal cross.

The spire, called the Westertoren ("Western tower"), is the highest church tower in Amsterdam, at 85 meters (279 feet). The crown topping the spire is the Imperial Crown of Austria of Maximilian I. 14 of the 50 church bells were made by François Hemony in 1658.

Rembrandt van Rijn was buried in the Westerkerk on October 8, 1669. The exact location of the grave is unknown, but presumed to be somewhere along the northern wall. Rembrandt's lover Hendrickje Stoffels is also buried here, as is Rembrandt's son Titus van Rijn. Other painters buried in the Westerkerk are Nicolaes Berchem, Gillis d'Hondecoeter, Melchior d'Hondecoeter and Govert Flinck. The church organ is decorated with doors painted by Gerard de Lairesse.

The Westerkerk is located close to the Achterhuis (now Anne Frank House) where diarist Anne Frank, her family and others hid from Nazi persecution for two years during World War II. The Westerkerk is mentioned frequently in her diary - its clock tower could be seen from the attic of the Achterhuis and Anne Frank described the chiming of the clock as a source of comfort. A memorial statue of Frank is located outside the church."

--Wikipedia (visit link)

Date of origin:: Beginning of construction = 1620; end of construction = 1631 Architect(s): Hendrick de Keyser Style: Late Renaissance (ca. 1580–1620) Web site of the object (if exists): [Web Link] Type of building (structure): Large religious building (church, monastery, synagogue...) Address: Prinsengracht 281 Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Netherlands 1016 GW

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/29/2022 MaaBo visited it 04/11/2022 Dutch Coaster visited it 10/03/2021 Theodd1 visited it 07/11/2021 T-Team! visited it 05/16/2021 PetjeOp visited it 12/26/2019 Ariberna visited it 07/13/2019 Axel-F visited it 07/10/2019 lamiche37 visited it 05/01/2019 DH5MM visited it 04/14/2019 Lynx Humble visited it 04/06/2019 DPO17 visited it 10/09/2018 siggibär visited it 08/02/2017 Kladings visited it 05/07/2017 Andre 61 visited it 08/01/2016 samager visited it 07/29/2016 stefr67 visited it 07/16/2016 Nathalain visited it 02/16/2016 matefreund visited it 01/13/2016 Astartus visited it 03/29/2015 Benerij visited it 03/15/2015 alboi visited it 03/05/2015 HtV visited it 09/05/2014 tugies visited it 09/10/2011 Kelux visited it 04/29/2002 PISA-caching visited it

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