St. Nicholas Church Blije
Blije
Look at the eastern bell opening in the tower and you’ll spot it immediately: the tower and the church were built in different periods. The tower is over 200 years older than the main church building. Their styles reflect that difference, with a Romanesqu
Take a look
At the eastern bell opening in the tower you can see it immediately: the tower and the church are not the same age. The tower is more than 200 years older than the main body of the church. There’s also a clear difference in style: the tower is Romanesque, while the church is Late Gothic.
The current entrance sits in a beautiful pointed-arch niche. In the tympanum you’ll find a small figure of the church’s namesake. Inside, you’ll discover fine church furnishings from the early eighteenth century. The pulpit features carved mouldings and leaf ornament in the Louis XIV style. Be sure to also see the Van Dam organ (1870), the piscina in the choir wall, and the impressive engraved tomb slab (portrait stone) of the armoured Janke van Unema, carved in 1552 by master craftsman Vincent Lucas.
Extra information
In the 13th century, a Romanesque brick St Nicholas church with a west tower was built on the terp (mound) of Blije. Behind the preserved tower, the church was replaced in the early 16th century by the present Late Gothic building. The Romanesque tower rises in an unbroken line up to the bell openings. Below, a pointed-arch window was added in the west façade, and there are also several small slit-like openings. The paired, round-headed bell openings sit within round-arch recesses; those on the east side were partly constrained when the high church roof was built. Clock faces are set on the north and south sides, and the gable tops were renewed in the mid-18th century.
The Late Gothic church walls show a rhythmic pattern of large, deeply set pointed-arch windows and buttresses. The five-sided closed choir alternates pointed-arch windows and niches. The entrance used today is placed within a framed, plastered section, featuring a finely profiled pointed-arch niche with a small niche in the tympanum, where a St Nicholas statue was added recently.
Inside, the church has a wooden barrel vault installed in 1858, painted in reconstructed original colours, with tie beams on carved corbels. Most furnishings date from the early 18th century. The pulpit and sounding board include Louis XIV-style carved mouldings and leaf ornament. The organ was built in 1870 by Lambertus van Dam of Leeuwarden. Two roofed “gentlemen’s pews” stand against the north wall. The baptism rail was moved and now serves as a choir screen. In the choir wall is a piscina, and the floor contains tomb slabs, including a child’s slab (1556) and the portrait stone made in 1552 by Vincent Lucas for Janke van Unema and Tet Wyboltsma. The man is depicted in armour against a richly decorated Renaissance gateway with drapery.
Style: Late Gothic (early 16th century); tower: 13th century
Denomination: Protestant
Highlights: pulpit, furnishings, grave slabs, organ
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