Cathedral of Saint Bavo

The Cathedral of Saint Bavo, was built in Haarlem, the Netherlands by the Catholics in 1898 after the Sint-Bavokerk was converted to Protestantism in 1578. It now serves as the main cathedral for the diocese of Haarlem.

History

Since 1853 the church of St. Joseph had served as a cathedral but it proved to be too small almost immediately, despite enlargements.

Bishop Bottemanne started the planning for building a new cathedral in 1893, which was to serve as a cathedral as well as a parish church. The original intention was to ask Pierre Cuypers to design the church, and it's possible he even made a first design, but due to his age his son, Joseph Cuypers, became the architect instead. Cuypers at first designed a church in a neo-gothic style that still clearly showed the influence of his father, but eventually, after numerous changes, Cuypers decided to focus on a neo-romanesque style instead, with influences from Byzantine and jugendstil architecture.

Construction started in 1895 with the choir and its radiating chapels, and on April 1, 1898 the cathedral was consecrated. In the years 1902 - 1906 construction continued with the transept and nave. Due to shortage of money the construction of the towers was prosponed until 1927. In this period Cuypers was assisted by his son Pierre Cuypers Jr..

External links

* [http://www.rkbavo.nl Official website of the Cathedral of Saint Bavo]
* [http://www.haarlemshuffle.com/tourism/topic.php?id=19 Haarlem Shuffle - St Bavo Catholic Cathedral]