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| Stadhuis Delft |
Delft is pretty awesome in that it has two epic churches fairly close to one another. Across the square from the Nieuwe Kerk was the Stadhuis- or city hall building. At the time I had no idea what it was, but it was a cool enough building I just had to get a picture of it!
The Nieuwe kerk is currently undergoing renovations and so the grandeur of the building was partially obscured by scaffolding. I appreciate restoration work and keeping people safe, but it does unfortunately take away from the whole experience. Oh well. Although it is called the "New Church" this was originally built as a wooden church in 1381, after a beggar had a vision of Mary, mother of Jesus sitting on a throne on the Markt or main square. A man witnessed the beggar having this vision, and in turn had similar dreams about a church being built on the spot of the vision after the beggar's death. Thirty years later, a temporary wooden structure was built and plans for a more permanent stone church began.
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| Inside the church |
This church had the same set-backs and disasters as the Old church- a large fire that destroyed the organ, clocks and stained glass windows in the 1500s, and the gunpowder explosion in the 1600s that actually hurt the walls of this church and caused the roof and stained glass windows to fall.
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| William of Orange's Mausoleum |
The main feature on display in the church is the mausoleum of William of Orange. He is touted as the "Father of the Fatherland" and led a rebellion against Spanish rule in the 1500s. His resistance resulted in the Eighty Years' War. He was assassinated by a Frenchman in 1584, on orders of the Spanish, and the monument around his grave is intense! It is 3D and has different statues built all around each side. It was built from white and black marble, as well as gold and bronze.
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| New Church Organ |
Unfortunately, a large portion of the inside of the church was also covered by scaffolding an construction, but the mausoleum and organ were still visible. The organ has 3,000 pipes and was completed in 1839. Because we went to the Old Church first, and Landon was getting hungry/fussy for lunch, we did not spend a ton of time here, but it was worth it to see the mausoleum of the first hero of the Netherlands.
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| Another cool church near Nieuwe Kerk |
I could spend so much time in Delft just admiring the picturesque buildings and walking the streets. I love the history there. It is doubly appealing because it is only 10 minutes away from our hotel with public transport!
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