Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

Reformed church. Single-nave nave with narrower, rectangular closed choir (16th century). Oak tie beams with corbels and key pieces with pear bead profiles. Inventory: simple pulpit (19th century?), four gentlemen's pews (18th century). Organ made in 1884 by Gebr. van Oeckelen.

It is not known when a church first stood on this site, but it is known that there was a parish in Westerblokker around 1513. It is not possible to say with 100% certainty what style the church had, but on the basis of several drawings and engravings it can be stated that the church at least has stylistic features of a late Gothic church from the first quarter of the 16th century. This church, more precisely the nave, was demolished in 1830 due to dilapidation. The new nave was widened in 1864 at the height of the two easternmost bays and the choir enclosure. The current cast iron windows also date from that renovation. In 1883 the, also, cast iron entrance and ornamental gates were added. The pillars of the gate on the Westerblokker show the year 1883.

The Dorpskerk in Abbenes is a charming village church dating from 1868. It is listed as a Municipal Monument of the Netherlands.

Historic village church with tower. The Reformed parish Dorpskerk is part of the Protestant community of Capelle aan den IJssel (PgC) within the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (PKN).

This church is listed as a National Monument of the Netherlands.

The Dorpskerk in Abcoude is a historic village church dating from the 14th century. It is listed as a National Monument of the Netherlands. It is currently used as a place of worship by the Protestant Church.

The church of Biggekerke is known to have been founded before 1247 as a daughter church of the Westmonster church in Middelburg. Until 1453, there were even two pastors' positions attached to it. During the Reformation, it also caused quite a stir here. The pastor at the time, Bernard Donder, was a convinced Calvinist and renounced the Roman Catholic church in 1566. Since then, he has also preached the Reformation in Biggekerke, something for which he had to pay with imprisonment. After being released and imprisoned several times, he fled to England or Germany. After this, a period began in which people could only meet secretly and in small numbers, in someone's house. But then, when Middelburg declared itself loyal to Orange, the Reformation could develop. At that time, there was still the problem that there were too few pastors, but in 1583, the classis of Walcheren assigned the first pastor to Biggekerke, the Rev. J. van Aecken.

As early as the 12th century, a stone church must have stood on the site of the village church. Before that, there was probably a thatched wooden church. The church was dedicated to Saint Anthony. On 6 June 1855, the church burned down. A large fire destroyed part of the church and also a large number of the village houses, only a part of the church tower was preserved. In 1857, new construction began. In 1949, three new bells were cast, replacing the two previous bells. They weighed 650, 371 and 260 kilos respectively and sounded in G sharp, B and C sharp. The middle bell was replaced in 1961 after a crack. The inscriptions read according to bells:

Plastered hall church, remnant of the former parish church (XV) that burned down in 1612, after which around 1627 only the nave was restored. Inventory: pulpit with wooden surround and two gentlemen's pews in Lod. XV style. Two psalm boards in Lod. XVI FRAME. Series of eight stained glass windows, around 1745, restored by Schouten in 1908 and for the second time in 1963. Originally a single-manual organ, made in 1773 by JHW Bätz and expanded in 1807 by F. Friedrichs, for the Mennonite Church in Haarlem. In 1934 transferred to the Bakenesserkerk. There it was combined with the organ from 1874 by JA Strobel to form a pneumatic organ with two manuals and free pedal. In 1996 the furniture of Bätz, including a significant number of registers of Bätz and Friedrichs, was purchased by the reformed community of Oostvoorne. Restoration and reconstruction in 2000 by AH de Graaf from Leusden. This church is listed as a National Monument of the Netherlands.

Single-nave late Gothic cruciform church with west tower and five-sided closed choir. The church is located inside the dike. Due to the dike raising, it has come to lie lower than the surroundings. In the second half of the 12th century, a tuff church was built here, consisting of a nave and a narrower choir. In the middle of the 14th century, the choir was replaced by a wider, five-sided closed choir with buttresses. After the building was destroyed between 1425 and 1428 during the Hoekse and Kabeljauwse wars, the choir was the first to be rebuilt. The 14th-century foundations were used for this. The nave was then rebuilt. The tuff stone that was still present was reused as wall cladding. At about the same time, construction of the current tower began. Around 1510, the church was enlarged to a cruciform church. The transept arms were built against the existing nave. At the end of the 18th century, the church and tower were extensively restored.