St. Catharinakathedraal

open: 12:00 - 16:00

St Catherine's Church used to be part of the Carmelite Friary founded in 1465. The Knights Hospitalers, who had a monastery and a hospital on this site since 1529, continued building the church. It was not completed until the mid-sixteenth century. The facade of the church is a copy of its 16th-century predecessor's, which was demolished to create space for the extension of the church and the addition of a turret in 1900. St. Catharine's passed into the hands of the Protestants in 1580, but was returned to the Catholics in 1840. It was the only medieval church in Utrecht to be restored to Catholic ownership. In 1853 the church became the cathedral of the archbishopric of Utrecht. Its interior was adapted to the neo-Gothic taste of the time. However, during the 1955-1970 renovation the interior was 'restored' according to drawings by Pieter Saenredam from 1636.

Read all about the history and the church

Points of interest