Last week I visited the Dom Tower, Domplein (Dom square) and Domkerk (Dom Church), which are all remnants of the same 12th century Gothic cathedral, dedicated to St. Martin, the patron saint of Utrecht. In Europe, beautiful Gothic cathedrals are almost a dime a dozen, but this one actually has a pretty interesting history. Construction was started on the main tower in 1321, and the bishop was determined that it be the tallest tower in Netherlands (it also contains a small private chapel so he could have the highest chapel in the Netherlands). The tower is a major symbol of Utrecht and also the biggest tourist attraction in town, so I sort of had to see it.
The tower stands 368 feet (112 m) tall, but they blew all their money on the tower so it took much longer to finish the rest of the church. The central nave was never fully completed–they didn’t get to add the flying buttresses necessary for structural support. When a major storm struck Utrecht in 1674 the nave collapsed. All that remains today are the choir and the transept (Domkerk), and the tower which now stands alone. It took until the 1800s for all the rubble to be finally cleared away, but the space where the nave once stood is now a nice outdoor square.
Anyway, here’s a ton of pictures from in and around the tower and the Domkerk.
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