The Pieterskerk is a late- Gothic Dutch Protestant church in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

. It is known today as the church of the

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who came to North America on the ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony in what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts, named after the final departure port of Plymo ...

, where the pastor John Robinson was buried. It is also the burial place of the scientist Willebrord Snellius.

History

In around 1100 the site held the county chapel of the

counts of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...

, rebuilt in 1121. The present building took approximately 180 years to build, starting in 1390. Famous Leiden dignitaries are buried there, including the painter

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Lif ...

and the Leiden professor

Herman Boerhaave Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...

. The beautiful stained-glass windows already took a terrible blow during the Beeldenstorm, but were completely destroyed a couple of centuries later, in the gunpowder explosion of 12 January 1807. The windows were boarded up, and it wasn't until 1880 that a large-scale restoration took place. The ''Pieterskerk'' used to have a church tower, the ''Westtoren'' (west tower) from 1290 on. It was nicknamed "Coningh der Zee" (king of the sea), and was completed in stages, eventually reaching 110 metres (including the 35-metre-tall wooden spire). It collapsed in the night of 5 March 1512. The tower was not restored and the church remains towerless. Not only the stained glass windows were vandalised during the Beeldenstorm, many other beautiful statues and paintings were made victim of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. The internationally renowned painting

Het Laatste Oordeel Het or HET may refer to: Science and technology * Hall-effect thruster, a type of ion thruster used for spacecraft propulsion * Heavy Equipment Transporter, a vehicle in the US Army's Heavy Equipment Transport System * Hobby–Eberly Telescope, ...

by Lucas van Leyden was barely saved by mayor Van Swanenburg. On 7 July 1572 the church was closed for services. It reopened on 5 October of the same year for the first

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

service. After this date the building of the church can be considered completed. In following centuries small homes were built against the sides of the church. They are still there today. The building was deconsecrated in 1971 and since 1975 has been managed by a foundation and rented for a wide variety of events. Since 2001, with 50% government funding, a long-term restoration project started that ran until 2010. Discoveries made during this and earlier restorations were put on permanent display in the church. A mummy is also on display, that the foundation has chosen not to subject to scientific scrutiny. Though the windows have been lost, the various grave monuments by prominent Leiden sculptors can still be seen. The building is open to the public. In 2007 there was a famous concert by the choral group ''

Libera Libera may refer to: * Libera (mythology), a Roman goddess of fertility * Libera (choir), a boy vocal group from London * ''Libera'' (film), a 1993 comedy film * "Libera" (song), a song by Italian artist Mia Martini * ''Libera'' (gastropod), a ...

.Concert in Leiden-2007
''Adoramus''''Going home''''Far away''''Evening Prayer'' (Hansel and Gretel)''Libera''''Sanctus''

''Salva Me''''Lacrymosa''
(solo Ben Philipp)
''Abide with Me''''I vow to Thee my country''''Stay with Me''''Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep''''I Am the day''
/
''Ave Maria''''Always with You''
(solo Tom Cully). Libera Official, 2011, 2013 and 2016.

Burials

Before 1811 many prominent people were buried in the Pieterskerk, such as the Dutch theologian

Jacobus Arminius Jacobus Arminius (10 October 1560 – 19 October 1609), the Latinized name of Jakob Hermanszoon, was a Dutch theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. H ...

(known for Arminianism),

, the botanist

Rembert Dodoens Rembert Dodoens (born Rembert Van Joenckema, 29 June 1517 – 10 March 1585) was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He has been called the father of botany. Life Dodoens was born Rember ...

Johannes de Laet Joannes or Johannes De Laet (Latinized as ''Ioannes Latius'') (1581 in Antwerp – buried 15 December 1649, in Leiden) was a Dutch geographer and director of the Dutch West India Company. Philip Burden called his ''History of the New World'', ...

, and John Robinson, pastor of the "

". For a listing, see the category Burials at the Pieterskerk, Leiden.

Gallery

File:quirepieterskerkleiden.jpg, The Pieterskerk from a side street. File:vaultspieterskerkleiden.jpg, The vaulted ceiling. File:VanHagerbeerLeiden.jpg, Van Hagerbeer organ (1643) File:Thomas Hill orgel.tif, Thomas Hill Organ (1883) File:John Robinson plaque (Leiden).jpg, Historical marker to the memory of Pastor John Robinson near where he is buried.

References

External links

Church website
{{Coord, 52, 9, 27, N, 4, 29, 16, E, type:landmark_region:NL_source:nlwiki, display=title Rijksmonuments in Leiden Churches in Leiden Gothic architecture in the Netherlands Puritanism