In
1559 king Philip II of Spain reorganized the catholic church
in the Low Countries, in an attempt to make these territories
more of a unity, and to counter the rise of protestantism. Among
other things a new diocese of Haarlem was founded, which fell
under the new archdiocese of Utrecht and covered much of what
today is the province of Noord-Holland. St. Bavo's church became
the diocese's cathedral. But already in 1578 the church was confiscated
by the protestants, who from then on called it the Grote Kerk
("Great Church"). The catholic religion was banned
and the catholic believers, who had become third-class citizens
(the Jews were "only" second-class), were forced to
practice their faith in obscurity. It would take almost a century
and an invasion by French troops before a more tolerant climate
set in and the catholics were more or less officially allowed
to have religious services in hidden churches; buildings that
from the outside were not recognizable as churches.
In 1742 the Old-Catholic church, formed by a breakaway group
of dissident catholics, was the first to have a cathedral in
Haarlem again, in the attic of a house. The Roman-Catholics waited
until 1853, when the old hierarchy was finally restored by the
pope. The church of St. Joseph became the cathedral for more
than 40 years. But this neo-Classical church was much too small
for its new purpose, and as the hope to regain the old St. Bavo
back faded, several attempts to enlage the St. Joseph were made
as well as to give the building a more catholic appearance, in
this case Baroque because it seemed impossible to use the much
more preferred neo-Gothic style in a neo-Classical building.
But despite all changes, compared to many parish-churches in
the diocese, this cathedral was a very poor substitute. The idea
to build a completely new cathedral grew stronger. P.J.H.
Cuypers, the most important architect in the country at that
time, was asked to make a basic design, but because he was already
over 60 years old and the project was expected to be a long one,
in 1893 his son Jos. got commissioned to design the new cathedral
which was to be called St. Bavo, like the first cathedral. The
building was to be constructed in the Western part of the city
and would also be used as a parish-church. The bishop and his
advisors expected that by choosing Jos. Cuypers as the architect,
they would get his famous father in the same deal. But Cuypers
sr. hardly played any major role in the project. During the project,
Jos increasingly moved away from his father's style. He cooperated
with Jan
Stuyt during part of the project, and with his son Pierre
Cuypers jr. in the final stages.
Originally
designed in neo-Gothic style, the church eventually showed influences
from Romanesque, Byzantine and Jugendstil architecture, with
neo-Gothic prevailing in the interior only. Jos' interest in
Asian art shows up in several places too. Work was planned and
carried out in three stages. From 1895 to 1898 the choir and
chapels were built, with the construction of the main part of
the church following from 1902 until 1906. Work on the towers
and front portals did not start until 1927, to be finally finished
in 1930. Architect Jos. Cuypers is honoured by the name of the
St. Bavo's location; on the Jos. Cuypersplein ("Jos. Cuypers
Square"), which can be reached through the Jos. Cuypersstraat
("Jos. Cuypers Street"). Nowadays the church has a
third function as a museum of religious art.
On the next few pages the different parts of the cathedral are covered in more detail.
- Page 1: history of the church
- Page 2: the back
- Page 3: the transept and nave
- Page 4: the front
- Page 5: the interior