Buurkerk

The Buurkerk is a former church in Utrecht (city), Netherlands on the Buurkerkhof. The building is the location of the Museum Speelklok, and the entrance is on the Steenweg. It is one of the medieval parish churches of Utrecht, along with the Jacobikerk, the Nicolaïkerk and the Geertekerk.

Buurkerk is the church seen in the foreground.

The church is documented as being burned in 1131, 1173, 1253 and 1279. The tower dates from 1370, but was never finished.[1] In 1577 a cannon was installed in the church tower, aimed at Vredenburg (castle) where the Spanish soldiers there were under siege by the Utrecht schutters.[1] Around 1580 the church endured the protestant reformation and in 1586 it was formally handed over to the protestants, who whitewashed the wall decorations and removed the choir to make room for a street.[1] The Choorstraat which is named after the deconstructed choir still has the outlines of the old choir in the pavement. In 1975 the church fell into disuse and in 1984 it became a museum.

The church is the burial place of various notable Utrechters such as the 17th-century painters Joachim Wtewael, Paulus Moreelse, Hendrick ter Brugghen, Dirck van Baburen, Jan Both and Herman Saftleven. Their graves are no longer marked however.

References
  1. Museum website

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