Vrouwekerk

The Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) has been an important church in the Leiden history. The church housed the parishes of the Huguenots and Pilgrims, who in large numbers later would travel to the New World.

A chapel was build on this spot in around 1300, devoted to Virgin Mary. As Leiden grew north, over the Rhine, the chapel was enlarged to a stone church in the mid 14th century and contained various chapels for different guilds.

After the reformation lots of religuous refugees came to Leiden from the Southern Netherlands and France (Huguenots), the church became known as the Walloon church (1584).

After lots of Huguenots and Pilgrims had left for the New World, the church started to fall apart and from 1808 it was not possible anymore to hold services in the church. In 1840 the last parts of the church still standing (tower and some walls) were removed.

1982-1983 the church remains (some walls and the footprint of the church) were restored, as a memory to it's historical importance. In 2008-2009 the square underwent a restoration. As a lot of founders of the New World left from here, it's still an important historical part in the history of the USA.

Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrouwekerk

Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Leiden_Vrouwekerk_4.jpg/350px-Leiden_Vrouwekerk_4.jpg

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