Old or Martinikerk

This church was built around 1200 in the Romanesque style with round arches. Originally, it was a narrow hall church that was later expanded, replaced, or reconstructed according to the ideas of its time. Around 1460, a tower was erected, and in the 16th century, the church was widened and enlarged to its current form. The whole now has a Gothic appearance. The early 18th-century Coemanskamer and the entrance portal from 1765 are executed in the Louis style.
Shortly after 1200, the builder Dirk van Voorburgh had a stone hall church built at the highest point of a sandbank, dedicated to St. Martin. A few cloister bricks from this time still remind us of this. Over time, many wealthy families contributed to the construction, expansion, or embellishment of this church, such as Princess Marianne, who moved to Voorburg at the age of 38. She attended this church. She donated the organ from 1879. This organ is also protected as a monument.
The spire is a tall structure that belongs to a church building. Towers were built for the defense of the city as lookout points and served as a focal point for the church or town. Bells were hung in the tower. A weather vane, a swan, or a cross is often symbolically placed on the tower. On this church, a lion stands on the spire at about 40 meters high. This weather vane likely refers to the Alkemade family, as Kerstant and Alckemade contributed to the construction of the church and tower in the 15th century.

Open Monumentendag Leidschendam-Voorburg