de Oostkerk van Middelburg uit 1667, Zeeland Province, The Netherlands

4.5 (30 reviews) Spent < 1 hour Ranking #6 in Middelburg Historic Sites • Architectural Buildings • Churches & Cathedrals

Surprising church building

The construction of the Oostkerk started in the 17th century and was designated as a Protestant church. Furthermore, the church has a surprising architecture, being round under a single cupola. The organ is also noteworthy, being from the 18th century. The interior of the church is typical Protestant, shunning the lavish paintings and statues, the hallmark of most Catholic churches
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Address

Oostkerkplein 1, 4331 TL Middelburg The Netherlands

Website

http://www.oostkerkmiddelburg.nl

Current local date and time now

Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 17:22

User Ratings

4.5 based on (30 reviews)

Excellent
53%
Good
47%
Satisfactory
0%
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Reviews

  • 4mvanroy 5:00 PM Oct 20, 2019
    Picturesque - domed - cobbles surrounded church
    Nice little round church just inside the centre of Middelburg. It's not in-use anymore by the church, but can still be visited. The inside is quite simple, but you have the possibility to climb all the way up (which we didn't do as we had a 4-year old with us). Cobbled streets around the Oostkerk do fit well to complete the picture.
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  • 4Robert O 5:00 PM Sep 16, 2019
    Round, Baroque, Protestant 17th Century
    It took almost 30 years to build this peculiar round church. There are few of them in the Netherlands. The earlier built Marechurch (1639) in Leiden is one of them. The Baroque style church was among the first initiated by the new Protestant elite. Catholic churches often have the shape of a cross. The interior as well reflects the Protestant ethic according to which the worship of idols (saints) is seen as a form of heresy. Central is the position of the pulpit from which the word of God is taught. No place for an altar. Though right after the Reformation (1572) any ornamentation was seen as distraction from the word of God, here you can observe that almost 100 years later the strict rules were relieved as putti, angels and eagle can be seen above the main portal. Inside the organ -added later- downgrades the position of the pulpit. Deconfessionalization also reached Zeeland and as a result the building is now multifunctional and 75% of restoration and maintainance cost was/is financed by public sources.

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