Zwolle Things to Do

One of the highlights in Zwolle is this city gate. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries and consists of a rectangular gate flanked by two octagonal towers. Despite a restoration in the late-19th century the gate is still mostly in its medieval form.

On several locations parts of the medieval city walls can be found, some original, some reconstructed. The part in the picture is found at the harbour. For a long time these walls were hidden behind small houses, all of which were demolished in the 1960's.
The building in the right side of the picture is the former library of a medieval dominican monastery.

The Grote Kerk ("Great Church"), also known by its original catholic name St. Michaël, is a big three-aisled Gothic hall-church built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The tower collapsed in 1682 and was not rebuilt, and there is now a rather peculiar construction on its place. On the north side the church has a beautiful Gothic portal. The interior is worth a look as well. Because this is a protestant church there isn't much to see in the form of art, but the building itself is quite interesting.

The Stedelijk museum is situated in the centre of the old town of Zwolle. Old and new are unitedin the museum's buildings: the Drostenhuis, built in the middle of the 16th century, and the new wing from 1997. In this new wing you will find the unique glass staircase, rooms for temporary exhibitions and the café. The older building, to the right of the entrance, has a more permanent exhibition of the museum's collection in histoical rooms and around some specific subjects. Here the history of the province of Overijssel in general and its capitol Zwolle in particular is visualized, from archeology to the patriotic movement at the end of the 18th century. In the café you can drink a cup of coffee or tea glancing through some of the art magazines on the reading table. In summer you can sit outside on the terrace and look at the temporary exhibition in the garden.

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These are stones that were placed by people living here thousands of years ago. These places were used as graves and it's still not well known how these structures were build. There are a few of them near Zwolle, for more info check my hunebedden page in Assen.

The O.L. Vrouwekerk ('church of Our Lady') is the only medieval church in Zwolle that has a tower. This tower, called Peperbus ("pepperpot") has become one of the symbols of the city. The church was built after ca. 1463. It's a one-aisled cruciform church, which is rare in The Netherlands, especially at this size. After the Reformation the building was used for various purposes. In 1809 it was returned to the catholics. Although the church looks quite big from the outside it looks remarkably small inside. The difference is explained by the very thick walls. Although a catholic church there isn't much to see inside, except for the choir area.

The church was granted the honorary title of Basilica Minor by the pope in 1999. Architecture-technically speaking the church isn't a basilica at all because it is only one aisle wide.

The Broerenkerk is one of two very similar former monastery churches. The other is the Bethlehemkerk.
This one belonged to the Dominicans, who had a very important monastery in this city until the protestants closed it and took over the church. The church is now used for exhibitions, concerts and fairs.

In 1900-1902 a new Dominican monastery was built after a design by J. Kayser, an important architect of catholic churches at that time. Part of the monastery is this big three-aisled cruciform basilica church. It has a very nice interior that is still mostly original and is worth a good look.