Page 244 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

242  FR ANCE AND THE L OW C OUNTRIES

paintings and statues
were destroyed follow-
ing the Alteration in 1578,
the delicate15th-
century vault paintings
on the gilded ceiling
escaped damage. In
1755, the paintings
were hidden with layers
of blue paint and were
not revealed until 200
years later, in 1955. The
Oude Kerk’s stained-
glass windows were also
undamaged in the
ransackings of the late
16th century. The Lady
Chapel, which dates The parlor in Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder
from 1552, contains
some of the best stained Solder (Our Lord in the Attic).
glass. The magnificent After the Alteration, when
oak-encased Great Amsterdam officially became
The Oude Kerk, a calm and peaceful haven at the heart Organ, the work of Protestant, many such hidden
of the Red Light District Christian Vater, was churches sprang up around the
added to the church in city. Built in 1663, the one here
1 Oude Kerk 1724. Restoration work on the served the Catholic community
organ continues until late 2017. until 1887, when the nearby St.
Oudekerksplein 23. Tel 020-625 8284.
v 4, 9, 16, 24. Open daily (Sun: pm Nicolaas kerk was completed.
only). Closed Jan 1, Apr 27, Dec 25. 2 Museum Ons’ Above the mock-marble altar is
5 11am Sun. & - 7 Lieve Heer op Jacob de Wit’s glorious painting
∑ oudekerk.nl The Baptism of Christ (1716). The
Solder tiny box bedroom where the
The origins of the Oude Kerk (Old Oudezijds Voorburgwal 38. Tel 020- resident priest slept is hidden
Church) go back to the early 624 6604. v 4, 9, 16, 24. Open daily off a bend in the stairs.
13th century, when a wooden (Sun and public hols: pm only). Closed The building became a
church was built on a burial Apr 27. & 8 - ∑ opsolder.nl museum in 1888, and today
ground on a sand bank. The contains elegantly refurbished
present Gothic structure is 14th Tucked away on the edge of the rooms, as well as a fine collec-
century, and has grown from a Red Light District is a restored tion of church silver, religious
single-aisled church into a 17th-century canal house, with artifacts, and paintings. Restored
basilica. As it expanded, the two smaller houses to the rear. to its former opulence, the parlor,
building became a gathering The combined upper floors with its magnificent fireplace, is
place for traders and a refuge for conceal a Catholic church, a splendid example of a living
the poor. Though many of its known as Ons’ Lieve Heer op room in the Dutch Classical
style of the 17th century. Entry
to the museum is through the
house next door, where a
cloakroom, café, and temporary
exhibitions are found.
3 Red Light District
v 4, 9, 14, 16, 24.
Prostitution in Amsterdam dates
back to the city’s emergence as
a port in the 13th century. By
1478, it had become so wide-
spread that attempts were
made to contain it. Prostitutes
straying outside their designated
area were marched back to the
The Death of the Virgin Mary by Dirk Crabeth, one of three restored stained-glass windows sound of pipe and drum. A
in the Oude Kerk’s Lady Chapel century later, the Calvinists tried
For hotels and restaurants see p260 and p261

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