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356 Route 42. HAARLEM. Groote Kerk.
Straat, is the Old Town Hall, restored about 1650 and now used
for military purposes.
The Groote Kerk (St. Bavo; Pl. 3, D, 4) is an imposing and
lofty cruciform church, nearly 460 ft. in length, erected at the
close of the 15th century, with a tower 262 ft. high, completed in
1519. A thorough restoration of the edifice took place in the last
decade of the 19th century.
“INTERIOR (sacristan’s house on the S. side of the choir, at No. 23;
adm. 25c.). The vaulting rests on twenty-eight columns, on which decora-
tive paintings of the end of the 16th cent. are visible. The nave and choir
were apparently meant to be covered by stone vaulting, but are provided
merely with a cedar-wood roof of cross-vaulting, dating from 1630-38.
The roof above the intersection of the nave and transept is, however, of
stone. Some of the stained glass in the nave is ancient. The sounding-
board of the pulpit in carved wood is Gothic (1432), while the pulpit
itself and its handsome brass railings belong to the 18th century. A
cannon-ball in the wall of the S. aisle is a reminiscence of the Spanish
siege of 1572. — By the second pillar to the right in the choir is a mon-
ument to the memory of Conrad (a. 1808), the engineer who constructed
the locks of Katwyk (p. 353). The small models of ships suspended close
by date from 1668, but replace earlier originals that had been presented
by the Dutch-Swedish Trading Co. (‘Schonenvaardersgild’). The choir-
stalls are fine, and also the late-Gothic screen separating the choir from
the nave, which was erected in 1510 by Diderik Sybrandszoon of Malines
and is adorned with numerous civic arms; the side-railings in the inner
choir are in the early-Renaissance style (1540). By the rearmost pillars
of the choir are two late-Gothic candle-brackets.
The Organ, constructed in 1735-38 by Christ. Miller, and thoroughly
restored in 1868, was long considered the largest and most powerful in
the world and is still one of the finest. It possesses 3 keyboards, 64 stops,
and 5000 pipes, the largest of which is {5 inches in diameter and 32 ft.
long (public recitals, see p. 354; at other times the organist may be en-
gaged to play for a fee of 13 fl.). — The pleasing group in marble below
the organ, by J. B. Xavery, represents ecclesiastical poetry and music,
expressing their gratitude to Haarlem for the erection of the organ.
rhe Tower (adm, 14 fl.; staircase in the N. aisle, ending in ladder-
like steps) affords an extensive view.
Tn front of the church rises a bronze Statue of Coster, the al-
leged inventor of printing, by Royer, erected in 1856.
_On the strength of a story that came into yogue about 1560, Haarlem
claims for Laurens Janszoon Coster the honour of being the inventor of
printing, though no works printed at Haarlem are known with a date
either before or shortly after 1447, the date of Gutenberg’s earliest pro-
dactions. All that can be said with certainly is that Haarlem possessed
the first printing-press in the Netherlands,
The Srapuuts or Town Hall(P1. 18; 0, 4), begun about 1250, was
originally a palace of the Counts of Holland, but was remodelled in
1620 and 1630, when also the wing in the Zylstraat was added. The
“Municipal Museum here (adm., see p. 354) contains a valuable
gallery of about 400 paintings, the only one where it is possible for
the traveller to become thoroughly acquainted with the jovial Frans
Hals (p. Ixvii), the greatest colourist of the Dutch painters next to
Rembrandt.
On entering the building from the market-place, we ascend the
stair.ase on the left and reach a vestibule, the beams of which |
