Ravenstein
(NB):
reformed church (Derick Bijl, 1641)
Although
Ravenstein was always
a mostly catholic town, it does have one of the oldest protestant
churches of this province. This church was built for the protestant
garrisson that was stationed in Ravenstein at that time.
The church is a simple one-aisled building of four traves with a
choir-like back with a four-sided closure. Although the heydays of
Gothicism were long over, it's clear to see that that style continued
to be of influence for a long time. Originally the three niches in the
facade had been windows, but these were closed in ca. 1730. The
traceries were saved. In 1838 the church was plastered, but during a
restoration in 1970-1972 the church was restored to its original form.
The plaster coat was removed, the windows were given traceries like
those in the niches at the front and a lantern-tower was reconstructed
to replace a non-original steeple.
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