Saint Gudula Church - Lochem

The Gudula church in Lochem is many centuries old. The first suspicion of the church was a wooden barn church in the 9th century, followed by the first written mention in 1059. In the 12th century, there was talk of a tufa basilica and in the 14th century, the building was replaced by a Gothic construction with the tower added in 1478.

The monumental church, now listed as a protected monument, has several historical details such as beautiful stained-glass windows and murals from the early 15th century. Due to fire and war damage - especially in the great city fire of 6 April 1615 in which almost all houses were lost - much was rebuilt and expanded into what we now know as a 'hall church'. The last restoration dates from 1977.

The church also contains a Lady Chapel where you can pray, light a candle or do other spiritual activities. All that was missing was a Mary. To complete this special place, in 2017, in honour of 500 years of the Reformation, the icon of the 'Mother of God of Unity' was added, made by Geert Hüsstege of the icon studio Transfiguration.

Lochem became Protestant around 1580, at a time when the Iconoclasm of 1566 was dividing the religious landscape. That attack by Protestants on Catholic images of saints may have completely bypassed Lochem, but it did indirectly trigger the Eighty Years' War. But because Lochem was located against the border of the Catholic Spanish Netherlands and the Union of Utrecht during the war, and belonged to the latter, the church changed its religious direction. A period of radical enlargements and embellishments of the Grote Kerk came to an end.

A visit to Saint Gudula Church will leave you enjoying beautiful architecture, historical details and spiritual surroundings.