Oude Kerk, Protestant church and art museum in De Wallen, Netherlands
Oude Kerk is a Protestant place of worship and art museum located in De Wallen, Amsterdam, built from red brick in Gothic style with wooden vaulted ceilings spanning three thousand three hundred square meters (about thirty-five thousand square feet). Tall windows allow daylight to filter through stained glass, and slender columns rise between side chapels inside, while the tower stands above the surrounding canal streets.
A wooden chapel established in 1213 was replaced by a stone structure consecrated in 1306, which later received Gothic extensions. The tower and side chapels developed gradually until the 16th century, before the building became Protestant during the Reformation.
More than ten thousand burial sites rest beneath the stone floors, with names engraved on memorial slabs that visitors walk across while exploring the interior. The space now hosts rotating art installations where contemporary works appear alongside centuries-old columns, inviting people to move slowly through the aisles and observe how modern creativity interacts with ancient architecture.
The building opens six days each week, while the tower becomes accessible only during warmer months and requires a separate guided visit. Acoustics make the space a popular venue for concerts, with visitors walking on stone floors and should be aware that some areas may close during events.
The structure rests on wooden piles driven deep into swampy ground, a method used across Amsterdam for centuries. Bells in the tower still ring today, and their sound reaches the narrow alleys and bridges nearby, where modern city life continues around the old walls.
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