The reformed Great Church of
Harlingen is the successor of the Romanesque St. Michaël, which itself
was the successor of the first church in the province which was founded
in the year 777. The Romanesque church was built in ca. 1200 and was
replaced by the current building in 1772-1775. Only
the Romanesque tower, built in ca. 1200 and heightened in the 15th
century, was saved. The new church was designed in Classical style by
Willem Douwes. The cruciform ground-plan, in the shape of a
Greek
Cross, is
typical for many protestant churches built after the Reformation. Three
arms of the cross form the actual church, while the eastern arm is
seperated from the rest by a wall and serves as a consistory.
