| Grote kerk Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren |
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Tower of the "Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk" |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Breda, Netherlands |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| Groundbreaking | 1410 |
| Completed | 1547 |
| Specifications | |
| Height (max) | 97 m (318.24 ft) |
The Grote kerk or Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) is the most important monument of Breda. The church is built in the gothic style Brabantse gothiek. The tower of the church is 97 meter tall. The plan is in the shape of a Latin Cross, as is usual with gothic cathedrals.
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The first notice of a stone church in Breda is from 1269. In 1410 the construction of the church started with the choir. In 1468 the church was ready but in 1457 the old tower collapsed and between 1468 and 1509 the current tower was built. They continued building until 1547 when the church was finished in its current shape.
In 1566 the reformation took place and the church was no longer Catholic. In 1637 the church became Protestant.
The tower spire burned in 1694 and the current spire was built in 1702. From 1843 onwards many restorations took place, the last big restoration took place from 1993 until 1998.
The Prinsenkapel (Prince chapel) north of the choir is the old mausoleum of the Dutch Royal Family.[1] (The current mausoleum is situated at the New Church in Delft.) The chapel was built from 1520 until 1525 in order of the duke of Breda (Henry III of Nassau-Breda. Seventeen family members are buried in the chapel.
When William of Orange died the plan was to bury him also in the chapel, but Breda was at that time occupied by the Spanish. William of Orange and most of his descendants were buried in the mausoleum in the New Church in Delft.
A special part of the chapel are the vault paintings from 1533. The frescos are made by the Italian painter Tommaso di Andrea Vincidor (a student of Raphael).
The restoration of the chapel took 5 years. In 2003 the chapel was reopened to the public. The vault paintings were completely restored, all adaptations from later periods were removed and the original painting restored.