Who said children found churches boring? The Great or St Bavo Church is bound to impress them. First view it from the Grote Markt and tell them it’s also called ‘Jan with the high shoulders’.
The Great or St Bavo Church got its nickname ‘Jan with high shoulders’ because the tower is relatively small compared to the rest of the building. Haarlem’s biggest church was built between 1370 and 1520 on the site of a smaller church that had burnt down. The gravestones of Frans Hals and Pieter Teyler can be seen inside the church. You can also see the famous Christian Müller organ which Mozart played as a child. Unusually, there are houses built against the church’s southern side.
Nice to know!
The statues which once adorned the Great or St Bavo Church were destroyed during the Iconoclastic Fury of 1566.
| Grote of St.-Bavokerk | |
| address: | Grote Markt 22, Haarlem |
| open: | see website |
| online: | http://bavo.nl |