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436 Route 53. BOMMEL.
The choir (1419-44), with its Gothic stalls, is the finest part of the church.
The fresco (Crucifixion with the Virgin and St. John; 1444) in the Chapel
of St. Anthony (1st to the right in the ambulatory) should be noticed.
The statues of saints and the Stations of the Passion on the back wall of
the choir are modern. In the apse are old frescoes (retouched), statues
of Apostles (ca. 1420), and a modern altar. The copper chandelier in the
Chapel of the Eucharist dates from the 45th century.
The Church of St. Catharine, 5 min. to the S. of the market-
place, has a pretty choir and contains a number of pictures from
the suppressed Abbey of Tongerloo (p. 208).
From °S Hertocennoscn to Lace-Zwatuwe, railway in 41/4-43/, hr.
Stations: Viymen; Waalwyk, terminus of the steam-tramway from Tilburg
(p. 455); Kaatsheuvel-Capelle; Geertiuidenberg, a small fortified town on the
Biesbosch (p. 452), with a late-Gothic church of the 15th cent. (steam-
tramway to Oosterhout-Breda), — Lage-Zwaluwe, see p. 300.
The steam-tramway from ‘S Heriogenbosch to Helmond (see p. 454)
passes near (1 hr.) the fine chateau of Heeswyk, restored in an old-fashioned
style. — Other steam-tramways run to Zindhoven (p. 451) and to Drunen
and Heusden.
From °S Hertogenbosch to Wymwegen and Arnhem see p. AAT.
The train crosses the Meuse.. To the right, beyond (93 M.) Hedel,
is the castle of Ammerzoden (now a convent).
98 M. Bommel, or Zalt-Bommel (Hotel Gottschalk, plain but very
fair), formerly a strongly-fortified place (4500 inhab.), was unsuc-
cessfully besieged by the Spaniards in 1574 and 1599 and taken by
Turenne in 1672 after a gallant defence. The ramparts are now
occupied by beautiful avenues. The St. Maartens Kerk possesses one
of the finest and loftiest towers in the country (15th cent.), and con-
tains
van
some ancient mural paintings. The so-called House of Maarten
zossem (p. 446), now a district-court, is a simple but graceful
‘Renaissance building of the {6th cent. and contains four handsome old
chimney-pieces. There are various houses of the 16th and 17th cent.
in the market-place and the adjoining streets, notably a house in the
Water-Straat with a fine upper story (16th cent.) and sculptures of
the Oudenaarde school (p. 51). — The river is tidal up to this point.
The train crosses the Waal. 4101 M. Waardenburg; 104 M.
Geldermalsen (p. 452), the junction for the Nymwegen-Dordrecht
railway (p. 452), beyond which the Linge is crossed.
Near (1091/. M.) Culemborg the Lek, or Lower Rhine, is tra-
versed by a bridge ofa single arch, 164 yds. in span. Culemborg
(formerly written Kuilenburg) was once the seat of the counts of that
name, who are frequently mentioned in the history of the Dutch
War of Independence. Fine late-Gothic Raadhuis of 1534.
About 6 M. above Culemborg, at the point where the Kromme Rhyn
(crooked Rhine’) diverges from the Lek, lies Wyk-by-Duurstede (Hétel
Afeyer's), perhaps the Batavodurum of the Romans, and a commercial town
of some importance (Dorestadum) in the time of Charlemagne. The taste-
ful late-Gothic church was built in the 15th century. One of the towers
of the ruinous chateau of the Bishops of Utrecht dates from the 13th cen-
tury. Steam-tramway to Sandenburgerlaan, a station on the steam tram-
way from Zeist-Driebergen to Rhenen and Arnhem (p. 445).
1121/5 M. Schalkwyk; 115 M. Houten. The train then crosses
the Kromme Rhyn. — 120 M. Utrecht, see p. 437. |