The Jacobikerk is a landmark

Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, Netherlands. The building is located on the St Jacobsstraat, named for its patron saint

St. James the Greater James the Great (Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles to ...

. The church is one of the medieval parish churches of Utrecht, along with the

Buurkerk The Buurkerk is a former church building in Utrecht (city), Netherlands on the Buurkerkhof. The building is the location of the Museum Speelklok, and the entrance is on the Steenweg. It is one of the medieval parish churches of Utrecht, along with ...

, the and the Geertekerk. Today it is known as the starting place for Dutch pilgrims on their way to

Santiago de Compostella Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedra ...

along the Way of St. James. The Dutch Confraternity of St. James is located around the corner on the St. Jacobskerkhof.

History

The current gothic church dates from the end of the 13th century, but was expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries.Church website In 1576-1577 a cannon was installed in the church tower, aimed at

Vredenburg (castle) Vredenburg Castle (Dutch: ''(Kasteel) Vredenburg'' or ''Vredeborch'') was a 16th-century castle built by Habsburg emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V in the city of Utrecht (city), Utrecht in the Netherlands. Some remains of the cas ...

where the Spanish soldiers there were under siege by the Utrecht schutters. Around 1580 the church endured the

protestant reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

and in 1586 it was formally handed over to the protestants, who whitewashed the wall decorations and removed the altarpieces. The tower bell was made by S. Butendiic in 1479, with a diameter of 182 cm.

Rijksmonument A (, ) is a national heritage site of the Netherlands, listed by the agency Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE) acting for the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. At the end of February 2015, the Netherlands had 61,822 l ...

report

Church function

The church still accommodates weekly Sunday services, but is regularly rented out for other functions, including weddings and concerts, but also for various cultural initiatives of the city or the local university.

References

External links

Website Protestantse Wijkgemeente Jacobikerk
(Dutch only)
Website Genootschap St. Jacob
(Dutch only) {{coord, 52, 05, 42, N, 5, 06, 55, E, region:NL_source:kolossus-nlwiki, display=title Churches in Utrecht (city) Rijksmonuments in Utrecht (city) Protestant churches in the Netherlands Protestant churches converted from Roman Catholicism 13th-century churches in the Netherlands