Amsterdam Old Church at sunset
The tower of Amsterdam’s oldest church — the Old Church (Oude Kerk, in Dutch) — silhouetted in the late afternoon winter sky.
Actually, the Old Church is the oldest building in Amsterdam. It was built in several phases between some time around 1300 and 1578. Every time there was enough money the church was expanded a bit.
The oldest part of the church is the tower, but at some point a new tower was built around it.
The Old Church was dedicated to St. Nicholas, a Catholic saint from Turkey. Some 1700 years ago he was bishop of Myra. He is said to have performed many miracles.
One of his alleged miracles was saving three seaman during a bad storm by guiding them into the harbor of Myra. From that time on many harbor cities, Amsterdam included, built a church in his honor.
Old Amsterdam in colorized photos
Photochroms of Amsterdam taken between 1890 and about 1900. Collected by the Library of Congress. No known copyright.
According to Wikipedia, “Photochrom … prints are colorized images produced from black and white photographic negatives via the direct photographic transfer of a negative onto lithographic printing plates. The process is properly considered a photographic variant of chromolithography, a broader term referring to color lithography in general.”
Christmas lights on Amsterdam’s canals
Every city in the Netherlands has a traditional Christmas tree, but this year Amsterdam has decorated 40 of its streets, bridges and canals with thousands of lights.
The event has been dubbed ‘Winter Magic Amsterdam’. And the best way to see all those magical Christmas lights is by taking an old fashioned canal tour.
Amsterdam: Zuiderkerk
Wikipedia says:
The Zuiderkerk was used for church services until 1929. During the final (1944-1945) winter of World War II, known as the hongerwinter (“winter of hunger”) in the Netherlands because food was so scarce, the church was in use as a temporary morgue because people were dying faster than they could be buried. The church was closed in 1970 because it was at the point of collapse. In the years 1976-1979, the church underwent renovation, and since 1988 it serves as a municipal information centre, with regularly changing exhibitions as well as a permanent exhibition which features a scale model of Amsterdam as it is envisioned in 2020.
Since June 2006, the church also houses the “Wall of Fame”, an homage to Dutch celebrities who have made a positive contribution to society, such as charitable work. The honourees include Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, renowned former soccer player Johan Cruijff and four-time Olympic swimming champion Inge de Bruijn.
The church is open to visitors Monday through Saturday. The tower, which offers stunning views of the surrounding area, is open to visitors Tuesdays through Sundays during the summer months. The carillon plays on Sundays between 4pm and 5pm.