Protestant church 'd Oale Grieze

The building consists of a Romanesque single-aisled church from the 12th century, and a late Gothic choir with two side chapels and a sacristy from 1485.

The nave walls are built of primeval stone to three-quarters of their height; in each a brick-clad round arch gate. The vaults, which collapsed in 1747, were re-installed in the choir during the restoration in 1961, the nave has retained a wooden pointed barrel vault.

The altar stone , dating from around 1450 and weighing about 1,000 kilos, formed the threshold of the entrance to 'n Oalen Griezen on the side of café-restaurant De Kroon until 1962. During the renovation of the village church, that entrance was bricked up and this large chunk of sandstone eventually ended up in the garden of the adjacent rectory. That's where it lay until the middle of this week.

The medieval altar stone has now been given a new place in the space under the church tower, where a quiet place is being set up. According to spokesman Jeroen Piksen of the Noabers van 'n Oalen Griezen foundation, it is part of a larger project to preserve the cultural heritage in Hellendoorn for posterity. The restoration of the church bells, refurbishment of 't Oale Karkhof and publication of the book Rond 'n Oalen Griezen are also part of this.

"The altarstone is used as a table to place prayer books, liturgies and postcards for sale. The possibility of lighting candles is still being investigated. In the quiet place there will also be a display cabinet with finds from and around the church and objects related to the village church. The intention is that the space under the tower will soon be open all day and that visitors can also take a look inside the church itself through a glass door," says Piksen

Tour
From mid-June to mid-August, the church is open on Tuesdays from 14:00 to 16:00 and on Thursdays from 10:00 to 12:00.
If you want to visit the church outside these times, please contact the Tourist Info.

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