Jacobus de Meerderekerk

The Jacobus de Meerderekerk is a neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church in Uithuizen in the Dutch province of Groningen.

After the medieval Dionysius church of Uithuizen had become Protestant after the reduction of Groningen, the apostle Jacobus de Meerdere became the patron saint of the Roman Catholic state of Uithuizen, founded in 1606. In 1710 the building then used was replaced by a barn church, which was enlarged in 1778 and 1825. Around 1860 a new church was built by architect J.F. Scheepers (1818-1886) a few hundred meters west of the old church on the Hoofdstraat, with the patron saint returning to the name Jacobus de Meerderekerk. The Jacobus de Meerderekerk was the first neo-Gothic church in the province of Groningen. The church is built in an early variant of the Neo-Gothic and has stucco vaults.

The church contains reliefs, made in the eighties of the 19th century with the Stations of the Cross. The church also has a 16th-century Calvary sand sashstone site. This relief is said to come from the Kloosterwijtwerd, which was destroyed by the Spaniards. The bell placed in 1861 with the text "by pennies amassed of large and clove I call for church and angelus/bone" was stolen by the Germans in the Second World War. Two new bells have been added in its place.

The Jacobus de Meerderekerk in Uithuizen is also the starting point of the Jacobspad, a walking and cycling route to Hasselt in Overijssel. The path is part of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, the place where James is said to have been buried. The path was opened by Cardinal Simonis on May 17, 2008.

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