St. Jan cathedral, Den Bosch

St. John Cathedral is, indeed, the biggest attraction of the city. Built in 13 century It is a real architectural masterpiece. Walk inside to see the magnificent interior and don't forget to pay attention to the organ. The entrance is free, unlike in many other churches in The Netherlands.

It's not something you will miss when visiting den Bosch, the beautiful Gothic Church dating back to the 14th century. They started building this church in 1380. The church became protestant in 1629. In the beginning of the 19th century the church became a Roman Catholic church once more. Since the end of the 19th century there has been a continuous restauration. It never seems to finish. Don't miss this Cathedral when visiting den Bosch!

The site below is in Dutch but gives many more pictures for those interested in knowing more of one the most beautiul churches in the Netherlands.

You can't miss this cathedral! Partly because it's so big it dwarfs all other buildings and the other reason is that you simply haven't seen Den Bosch if you haven't visited this jewel!

Construction lasted throughout the late Middle Ages, and St Jan's is now a testimony of the typical Brabant gothic style. One of its designers was the famous local painter Jeroen (Hieronymus) Bosch. Only two of his paintings remain in the city and both are to be seen in St Jan's: a modest diptych of Jesus and Mary.

Not only the inside is worth visiting: the exterior has some fascinating scultures, check out the old roof and bring binoculars if necessary!

This late gothic and richly decorated church was built between 1380 and 1520. The church is magnificient and the best looking church I've seen in the Netherlands yet!! A truly must see. Check out the St. Jans Cathedral travelogue for more information and pictures of this church.

Built between 1330 and 1550, the contrast between the plain red-brick Romanesque tower and the rest of this Gothic wonderment should be noticable to even those with the least amount of architecture appreciation. Be nice, the plain part is actually the oldest.

Now that's more like it. Sint Jan's is one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the Nederlands. The interior (open 10 am to 4:30 pm) is, in a word, stark. After the Protestants assumed control of the cathedral in 1629 they stripped away much of the interior adornments, finding them to be too garish and idolatrous. The interior feels very, very open, if a bit empty. Fortunately they never got to dulling down the exterior.

The largest and only true cathedral in the Netherlands is the Saint Janscathedral in Den Bosch. The building itself took centuries to be completed and is actually still not finished. If you watch the frontside, where one tower is stretching to the heavens, you see another foundation beside it supposing there would come a second. This however never has been realised. The tower itself is of mainly Roman architecture, though the "ship" of the church shows far more Gothic styles. Inside these differences seem to disappear in the dazzling hight of the ceiling, the light sparkling through the colourful windows and the splendour of statues, paintings, woodwork and a magnificent organ. This work of art is still being used frequently as church (which is often not to say about other Doms and Basilic-churches.

One of the most beautifull churches (cathedrals) in the provence Noord Brabant.
As teens we would walk.. from Eindhoven to Den Bosch in the month of May, kind of a pelgrimstrip.
6 hrs walk starting at midnight and arrving 6 in the morning ...
aaaaw those poor feet..could hardly walk , lay down in the church in the backside and after the service home by train.

In the middle of Den Bosch you can see the St.Jan Cathedral. The Cathedral is open for the public (outside church hours) every day from 8 o'clock until 5 o'clock in the afternoon. From the 3rd of November until Easter it is open from half past 9 until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The entrance of the cathedral is free.The next few pictures are of the interior and exterior of the cathedral, so you can have an impression what it looks like.

With this last view on the beautiful windows in the cathedral in Den Bosch,

I want to thank you for reading my page. I hope you enjoyed this little tour through Den Bosch. If you want to read more about cities like this in Holland, don't forget to take a look at my Netherlands page.