Maria Church
The Maria church in Blessum dates from the thirteenth century but the tower is from a later date. The church is best known for its two special text signs from 1657. One of them contains the Ten Commandments and the other mentions the Battle of Boksum.
About this building
Blessum is an isolated village that originated in the early Middle Ages west of the Middelzee. The church stands with the graveyard on an excavated mound. Opposite the church was once the noble Ringiastate, of which only the gateposts, with their beautiful consoles, have been preserved. The early Gothic hall church has a three-sided closed choir. On the north and east side walls, the remains of the original wall work with large cloisters have been preserved. The wall is braced by buttresses of different models. In the north wall you can see an extraordinary, brick-walled entrance with a gate, within which there is a pointed arch, supported by twisted columns. In the tympanum there is a natural stone sculpture in which a statue of Mary is placed. The round arch windows in the southern wall date from the first half of the nineteenth century. The gable roof tower dates from the second half of the fifteenth or early sixteenth century. The tower was converted around 1880. The church has a beautiful organ, which was built in 1659 by Willem Meynerts. The organ was thoroughly restored in the years 1789 and 1809. The last restoration took place in 1995 under the supervision of Jan Jongepier. It is decorated with ornaments and painted draperies. Every visitor can play this baroque organ, but a small gift is expected for the preservation of the church and organ. The village is so small that since its transfer to the Alde Fryske Tsjerken Foundation in 1975, the church has almost automatically started functioning as a village house. Here the Blessumers hold their New Year's Eve, birthdays are celebrated, the Gealtsjes (Frisian for Nachtegalen, the local women's choir) and colorful evenings and Christmas afternoons are organized for the children.
