The Basilica of St Plechelmus (Dutch: ''Sint-Plechelmusbasiliek'') is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

town of

Oldenzaal Oldenzaal (; Tweants: ''Oldnzel'') is a municipality and a city in the eastern province of Overijssel in the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Twente and is close to the German border. It received city rights in 1249. Historically, the ...

dedicated to the 8th-century Irish monk

Plechelm Plechelm, (Plechelm of Guelderland, Plechelm, also Pleghelm or Plechelmus; died 730), is honoured in both the Catholic Church and the Old Catholic Church as a patron saint of the Netherlands. Life According to Alban Butler, Plechelm was an Engl ...

, whose festival on 15 July has been on the calendar of the medieval diocese of Utrecht ever since his canonisation in the 10th century. This festival is still celebrated annually at the basilica, and the saint's 1050th anniversary was celebrated there in 2004.

History

The oldest parts of the existing building date from the middle and the second half of the 12th century, but the history of the church goes back to the 8th century, when the traveling missionary Plechelmus founded the first church on the site, the Silvester Church, initially dedicated to pope Silvester and sometime before 954 rededicated to Plechelmus himself (canonised after the elevation of his relics). In 954, bishop

Balderic of Utrecht Balderic of Cleves (Oldenzaal, 897 – Utrecht, 27 December 975) was a long-reigning and influential Bishop of Utrecht from 918 to 975. Although his father is only known from one document associating him with Betuwe, and his grave in his son' ...

founded a

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

in Oldenzaal and expanded and restored the 8th-century church, allowing the relics of Plechelmus used on his canonisation to be transferred to it. Since then, the Plechelmus Church of Oldenzaal was held in high regard - for example, during the Middle Ages its chapter was one of only four outside

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 ...

that could participate in electing the

bishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

. On 13 May 1950 the church was awarded the honorary title of

basilica minor Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural ...

by decision of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

By royal decree of 17 March 2009,

Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix was born during the reign of her maternal gr ...

granted the request to grant a coat of arms to the basilica.

References

External links

Official website

Over 140 pictures
{{coord, 52, 18, 45, N, 6, 55, 42, E, type:landmark_scale:11000_region:NL_source:nlwiki, display=title 12th-century churches Roman Catholic churches in the Netherlands Plechelmus Churches in Overijssel Towers in Overijssel Gothic architecture in the Netherlands Oldenzaal