St. Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht, or Dom Church ( nl, Domkerk), is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church dedicated to Saint

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as the ...

, which was the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of the Diocese of Utrecht during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. It is the country's only pre-Reformation cathedral, but has been a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church since 1580. It was once the Netherlands' largest church, but the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

collapsed in a storm in 1674 and has never been rebuilt, leaving the tower isolated from the east end. The building is the one church in the Netherlands that closely resembles the style of classic

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...

as developed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. All other Gothic churches in the Netherlands belong to one of the many regional variants. Unlike most of its French predecessors, the building has only one tower, the

Dom Tower The Dom Tower (Cathedral Tower, Dutch: ''Domtoren'') of Utrecht is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, at 112.5 metres (368 feet) in height. It is considered the symbol of Utrecht. The tower was part of St. Martin's Cathedral, als ...

, which is the hallmark of the city.

History

The first chapel in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

was founded around 630 by Frankish clergy under the patronage of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

kings but was destroyed during an attack of the

Frisians The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, ...

on Utrecht shortly thereafter. The site of this first chapel within Utrecht is unknown.

Saint Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His father ...

(died 739), the Apostle to the Frisians, established a second chapel devoted to Saint Martin on (or close to) the site of the current building. This church was destroyed by the Normans in the 9th century during one of their many raids on Utrecht, but was reconstructed by Bishop Balderic in the 10th century. During this period St. Martin's came to be the principal church of Utrecht, see of the bishop. The church had its own small territorial close (known as an "immunity") and was led by a

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. ...

of canons, who generally belonged to the nobility. The church was repeatedly destroyed by fires and then rebuilt. A Romanesque style church was built by Bishop Adalbold and consecrated in 1023. It is thought to have been the center of a cross-shaped conglomeration of 5 churches, called a ', built to commemorate

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

. This building, also known as Adalbold's Dom, was partially destroyed in the fire of 1253 which ravaged much of Utrecht, leading Bishop Henry van Vianen to initiate the construction of the current

structure in 1254. The construction of the Gothic cathedral continued into the 16th century. The first part to be built was the choir. The Dom Tower was started in 1321 and finished in 1382. After 1515, steadily diminishing financing prevented completion of this building project, of which an almost complete series of building accounts exists. In 1566, the ' or Iconoclast Fury swept across much of the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

, justified by the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

belief that statues in a house of God were idolatrous images which must be destroyed. As a result, many of the ornaments on both the exterior and interior of the cathedral were destroyed. In 1580 the Utrecht city government

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

the cathedral from the Diocese of Utrecht to local Calvinists. From then on Protestant services were held in the building with one brief exception, in 1672 and 1673, during the

Franco-Dutch War The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War (french: Guerre de Hollande; nl, Hollandse Oorlog), was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Nor ...

, when Catholic Masses were again held in the cathedral. A year after the French retreat, the still unfinished and insufficiently supported nave collapsed on 1 August 1674 during a massive storm that caused a tornado. Over the subsequent centuries, much of the enormous building fell into further neglect. The pitiable state of the cathedral led to some small restoration activities in the nineteenth century, followed by major renovations in the early twentieth century with the aim of returning the cathedral to its original state. However, the nave was never rebuilt. The Catholic Church remained strong within Utrecht following the Reformation but was legally obliged to worship discreetly in

clandestine church A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition t ...

es ('). One of these churches, St. Gertrude's, later became the principal cathedral of the

Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands ( nl, Oud-Katholieke Kerk van Nederland), sometimes known as the Dutch Roman Catholic Church of the Old Episcopal Order, the Church of Utrecht (Ultrajectine Church), or Jansenist Church of Holland, is an ...

. The Catholic Church, during the 1853

reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands On 4 March 1853, Pope Pius IX restored the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands with the papal bull '' Ex qua die arcano'', Translated in after the Dutch Constitutional Reform of 1848 had made this possible. The re-establishment of the episco ...

, designated the former St. Catherine's Church of the Carmelites as the cathedral of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht The Archdiocese of Utrecht ( la, Archidioecesis Ultraiectensis) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The Archbishop of Utrecht is the Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical province of Utrecht. There are six suffragan dioc ...

. Image:Dom voor storm (retoucheerd).jpg, Utrecht Cathedral from the north, before the collapse of the nave. Etching after Steven van Lamsweerde, 1660 File:Gezicht op het koor vanuit het noorden, gravure 1697 door I. van Vianen, Gemeente archief Utrecht nummer 1319 - Utrecht - 20232132 - RCE.jpg, Print of 1697 File:Hendrick van Vliet - interieur van de Dom 1674.jpg,

Hendrick van Vliet Hendrick Corneliszoon van Vliet (1611/1612, Delft – buried October 28, 1675, Delft) was a Dutch Golden Age painter remembered mostly for his church interiors. Biography He studied under his uncle Willem van der Vliet and was admitted to the ...

, 1674, the year of the storm File:NIMH - 2011 - 0518 - Aerial photograph of Utrecht, The Netherlands - 1920 - 1940.jpg, Military aerial view of Domplein and its environs, 1920–1940. Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie Image:Utrecht Dom church.JPG, Exterior of St. Martin's Cathedral File:Dom vanuit Pandhof 2.JPG, Exterior of St. Martin's Cathedral

The church today

What remains of St. Martin's today are the choir, the transept and the Dom Tower. The central nave of the cathedral which collapsed in the storm of 1674 is now a square with large trees, the '. Stones in various colours indicate in the pavement the original outlines of the church. In 2004, 750 years after construction began, the collapsed parts were temporarily rebuilt in scaffolding material. The scaffolding was also blown down in a storm, like the original nave. In 2013 a project has started to expose

archaeological artifacts An artifact, or artefact (see American and British English spelling differences), is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest. In archaeology, the ...

of the St. Martin cathedral. file:Dommiddenschip1.jpg file:Dommiddenschip2.jpg file:Dommiddenschip3.jpg A

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

and a

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole commun ...

, which is now the main hall of

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, are also still standing. The

Union of Utrecht The Union of Utrecht ( nl, Unie van Utrecht) was a treaty signed on 23 January 1579 in Utrecht, Netherlands, unifying the northern provinces of the Netherlands, until then under the control of Habsburg Spain. History The Union of Utrecht is r ...

, a founding document of the

Republic of the Seven United Netherlands The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiograph ...

, was signed in the chapter house.

Burials and memorials in the Dom

Utrecht was an important city in the western

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

and had particularly close links to the imperial

Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the la ...

. In the early Middle Ages the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

was always an honorary canon of the cathedral. The

Emperor Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

and the Emperor Henry V both died in Utrecht, in 1039 and 1125 respectively. Their bowels and hearts were interred in the cathedral. The modest "Emperors' stones" (''keizerssteentjes'') in the floor of the choir of the cathedral are a reminder of this fact. The only medieval tomb of importance to remain relatively unscathed in the cathedral is that of the 14th-century Bishop Guy of Avesnes – the brother of

John II, Count of Holland John II (1247 – 22 August 1304) was Count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland. Life John II, born 1247, was the eldest son of John I of Hainaut and Adelaide of Holland.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der ...

, Hainaut , and

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

. There are many other beautifully carved burial slabs and memorials in the cathedral. Of particular note is the monumental

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

, which contained the heart of the 16th-century Bishop

George van Egmond George or Joris van Egmont (c. 1504, in Egmond – 26 September 1560, in Saint-Amand Abbey) was a Christian religious authority and a bishop, who served as Bishop of Utrecht from 1535 to 1560. Biography George was the son of Jan III van Egmont ...

References

* * *

External links

domkerk.nl
the church's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin's Cathedral, Utrecht Churches in Utrecht (city) History of Utrecht (city) Rijksmonuments in Utrecht (city) Protestant churches in the Netherlands Cathedrals in the Netherlands Gothic architecture in the Netherlands Pre-Reformation Roman Catholic cathedrals