Grote of Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk
Harderwijk, NL
The Grote Kerk in Harderwijk is a Gothic cruciform basilica dating partly from the 14th and 15th centuries. The originally much larger church was initially called the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk and was dedicated to Mary. Since the Reformation in 1578, when the Catholic religion was banned and suppressed, the church has been used for Protestant services. After the parish church of St. Nicholas burned down in 1415, it was decided to enlarge a Mary chapel and use it as a church. The 14th-century building was given a new choir with ambulatory, a transept and a tower that exceeded that of the St. Eusebius Church in Arnhem in height and was thus the highest in Gelderland. A large part of the church was lost when the tower collapsed in 1797 and destroyed part of the nave.