Cathedral of St Bavo, Haarlem
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Cathedral of St Bavo | |
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Kathedraal St. Bavo | |
Johannes Willibrordus Maria Hendriks |
The Cathedral of Saint Bavo is a
History of the building
Since 1853 the church of St. Joseph served as a cathedral but it proved to be too small almost immediately, despite enlargements. Bishop Gaspard Bottemanne started the planning for building a new cathedral in 1893, which was to serve as a cathedral as well as a parish church.[1] The original intention was to ask Pierre Cuypers to design the church, and it's possible he even made a first design, but due to his age his son, Joseph Cuypers, became the architect instead. Cuypers at first designed a church in a neo-gothic style that still clearly showed the influence of his father, but eventually, after numerous changes, Cuypers decided to focus on a neo-romanesque style instead, with influences from Byzantine and jugendstil architecture.
Construction started in 1895 with the choir and its radiating chapels, and on April 1, 1898, the cathedral was consecrated. In the years 1902 - 1906 construction continued with the transept and nave. Due to shortage of money the construction of the towers was postponed until 1927. In this period Cuypers was assisted by his son Pierre Cuypers Jr.
Despite the size of this cathedral, the former St. Josephs is still also a Catholic church, and there are several other catholic and former catholic churches in Haarlem. Today Haarlem has over 140 protected religious buildings, most of which have been converted for other uses.
History of the collection
Haarlem has had a Christian parish church since the 9th century. This first church was a
The station known as the St. Josephs statie met in a converted private home on the Goudsmitsplein until a Waterstaatskerk was built in 1853 in the Jansstraat behind the Grote Kerk, called the St. Joseph kerk. This church, with its formal exterior on the street, became the most popular Haarlem Catholic church. Slowly the other staties were closed in favor of this one Catholic church.
The various artefacts that survived from the Reformation, as well as from other defunct Haarlem catholic collections, have thus found their way into the collection and are now in the schatkamer, such as a 17th-century painting of the patron saint Bavo and silver from the chapel of
References
- ^ Henk Ahles, Meer dan Steen: Haarlemse kerken en andere gebedshuizen, vroeger en nu, 2007.
- ISBN 90-6550-504-0
- "Meer dan Steen - Haarlemse gebedshuizen vroeger en nu", Historical Workgroup "Vereniging Haerlem"; editor: Leny Wijnands, 2007