St. Clemens Kerk

The history of church and parish in Gerwen lies in a distant and almost untraceable past; it is almost certain that the parish of Gerwen has a history of more than a thousand years. An indication of this is the fact that the ancient parish church of Gerwen was dedicated to St. Clement, a pope who was martyred under Emperor Trajan about AD 100. This St. Clemens was highly regarded in our Low Countries. This is apparent from, among other things, the fact that Saint Willibrord was given the nickname Clemens when he was consecrated as a bishop in 695; and this name was spread more and more among the people by other Benedictines who came after St. Willebrord. Clement veneration reached a peak in these countries in the 8th century and it is partly for this reason that it is assumed that the parish of Gerwen was founded in the eighth century and that a parish church was already built in the former Gerwin's heim.