Saint-John Church — Attraction in Gouda

The Rembrandts of Stained Glass Painting. Only 25 times bigger and more impressive.

The Church is Saint John is by far the biggest church in the Netherlands. It measures 123 meters (404 ft). It is an old Catholic Church which was transferred to the Protestants during the Reformation.

For that reason I did not find an awful lot statues and relics. But I found something much more unique: Giant medieval stained glass windows. It is said that the beautifully and precisely painted windows in this Church make more than 50% of all the Stained Glass Paintings in the country. In this Church only! Knowing that they were painted around 500 years ago, this struck me deeply.

I was there on a sunshiny day. The paintings were kind of radiating light. This made it magic. I am a real Rembrandt enthusiast. But I have to say that after this visit to the Saint John in Gouda, Rembrandt has to let the makers of these paintings first. The paintings are sometimes 22 meters (72 ft) high and show images from Dutch History and the Bible. They were made by two brothers, the brothers Crabeth, who lived roughly 100 years earlier than Rembrandt. That is probably the reason why they have stayed relatively anonymous.

It took me more than two hours to see and template only half of the paintings. A bear necessity is an electronic guide device, which we could afford, because the entrance to the vast Church / Museum is almost for free. It was not only one of the most interesting places I visited lately, but also for the children, who went out to discover this enormous church, but who also took the stained glass art as kind of...

One of the most beautiful churches I have been in! The highlight of the church is undoubtedly the incredible stained glass windows which have the most exquisite colours and details. Some of these are biblical, such as one window depicting the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:10-11 with God proclaiming Jesus to be his Son. Others are allegorical. You could gaze for hours at each window.

The audio tour was just the right length, with around 15 2 minute pieces which play automatically as you walk to various parts of the church.

Whilst the windows are beautiful in their colour and detail, the simplicity of the rest of the church with the pale stone, olive green wooden roof and plain wooden pews has its own sense of beauty. Aside from the windows the only other decadent piece is the organ which is guilded. We were able to listen to an organist practicing for a concert and the acoustics in the building were fantastic.

Finally, it was amazing to see the pulpit at the centre of the church. The audio guide explained this is because Christians believe that the bible is God’s word to us and that the reading and explanation of the bible is at the heart of the church service each week. I was reminded of John 6:68-69:

‘Simon Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy...

If you think you know everything about stained glass art and it's history think again. We loved our audio guided tour of the 72 stained glass window history preserved by the Church for many, many centuries. Most date back to the 15th century when painted glass was all the rage. This style contrasts to the more Gothic leaded stained glass that proceeded it. It was also easy as 123 (meters) remembering that this old Church was the longest of its Kind. The Ladies that sold us our tour, also helped us in giving excellent choices for lunch afterwards. We chose one of their recommendations Gouds Glass in keeping with our stained glass experience. It is now on our Best gem recommendations for lunch in the Netherlands. 😋 Thank you St. John's for brightening our day and sharing your colorful part of preserving stained glass history 🌈 ...