Munster Church

The Munsterkerk in Roermond is, like many religious buildings in Limburg, inextricably linked to local architect Pierre Cuypers. The Munsterkerk in Roermond celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2020.
This church was built in the early thirteenth century as a monastery church for the female abbey community of the Roermond Cistercian Order, also known as the 'Trappist Order'. The church was also built as a burial church for Count Gerard III of Gelre.
After nine centuries, his tomb can still be found at the center of the Munsterkerk, beneath the dome. With its late Romanesque architectural style, this church appears very closed from the outside, but the light and open atmosphere you feel when you open the church doors will surprise you.
When visiting the church, you can ask for an audio tour, where you can wander through the church while being taken along all the special stories. The church is inextricably linked to the name of the well-known Roermond architect Pierre Cuypers, who has many religious buildings in the area to his name.
One of the first commissions in Cuypers' career was the restoration of the chancel in the Munsterkerk in 1850, a task he carried out together with his brother Henri. More significant was the major restoration that lasted from 1863 to 1890.
Cuypers' plans were downright controversial at the time: the two octagonal chancel towers were replaced by square ones, the baroque bell tower was demolished, and parts of the western structure were raised to become towers.
Although Cuypers' plans were executed virtually unchanged, the controversy led him to leave Roermond in 1865 and move to Amsterdam.
From 1959 to 1964, Cuypers' neo-Gothic interior was removed again, but after the earthquake in 1992, the towers were rebuilt according to Cuypers' plans.

Tourist Board South Limburg (Visit Zuid-Limburg)