Sint-Landricuskerk is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church of Echt, dedicated to .

History

The origin of the parish of Echt goes back to the period 400–700, but the oldest written document mentioning a church is from 928. Then patronage rights and tithing rights of the parish were donated to the Saint Servatius Chapter in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

. This church was dedicated to

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

and possibly also

Saint Remigius Remigius ( or ; – 13 January 533) was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event in the Christ ...

, the bishop of

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

. Later, Saint Landry became the second patron saint and after 1722 the sole one. The church was built in

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

stone in the

Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...

. In 1477 the Romanesque church was replaced by a Late Gothic structure, keeping the choir that dates back to 1400. In 1873, Dutch architect

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. ...

was tasked with the renovation of the church. His intervention included enlarging the bays and the demolition, and replacement of the Romanesque tower with the current Neo-Gothic tower. The church and the bell tower sustained heavy damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, particularly in 1944. The church was restored in 1946 save its spire. The roof was restored to its original design. The tower crown was designed by H. Tillman, and made of concrete in 1958. During the post-war restoration, In 1966 the church was badly damaged by fire, and was again restored. In 1992 the church sustained damage as a result of an earthquake, and was repaired in 1994.

Location

Sint-Landricuskerk borders the historical center of Echt, situated on a low hill. In front of the church is a traffic-free square, and it is surrounded by a cemetery.

Architecture, interior and relics

Sint-Landricuskerk is a three-aisled hall Neo-Gothic church with a three-sided closed choir. It has an annexed sacristy and an articulated tower with a stair turret and a high, modern crown. The ceiling is of simple rib vaults. The spaces between the inwardly built buttresses at the side aisles are covered with narrow cross vaults. The interior was painted by Dutch painter Hubert Hendrik Jacob Kurvers during the 1994 restoration. The church contains a number of historical items and relics. Two oak choir stalls date to the 17th century; it also has four 18th century confessionals. The marble baptismal font is from the 2nd half of the 17th century. A wooden crucifix is roughly dated to the 16th century, and a wooden statue of

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (c. 595–655), bishop of R ...

and a terracotta statue of Saint Francis date to the 17th century. The church tower was restored with its clock that is believed to have been made my master clockmaker Henricus in the 13th century. In 2014, the church became an official pilgrimage site for Saint Edith Stein, a Jewish-Catholic philosopher nun from the

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

convent in Echt. The church has a memorial dedicated to the saint, it consists of a lectern and a triptych by artist Karin Deneer, and a display case housing the choir robe of Stein, which she wore when she was deported in 1942.

References

Citations

Sources

* * {{coord, 51.10706, 5.86741, format=dms, type:landmark_region:NL, display=title Churches in the Netherlands