Remarks
Since the church of St Catherine was the second church to built in Amsterdam (after Oude Kerk, the Old Church), it became known as the New Church.The building was begun in 1408 but was saked and burned several times over the centuries. The current church, in the flamboyant style, is the product of much rebuilding. Jacob van Campen, who was put in charge of its restoration after the fire of 1645, decided to add a bell tower that was never completed. It was in the Nieuwe Kerk that queens Wilhemina, Juliana and Beatrix were crowned. Seventy-five windows light the elegant and luminous interior, work of Van Campen and Artus Quellin the Elder. Of note are the mahogany pulpit, sculpted by Albert Jansz Vinckenbrinck in 1649, and the railings in gilded copper that divide the choir from the nave, and are the work of the Amsterdam workshops of Johanes Lutma (c.1650). The Nieuwe Kerk contains the funeral monuments of Dutch admirals, including in the apse Michiel de Ruyter's, sculpted by Rombout Verhulst, and Jan Carel Josephus van Speijk's. Other famous Dutchmen are also buried there, like the poet and tragedian Joost van den Vondel (17th Century), the painter Jan Lievens or the brothers Hémony. Important exhibitions are regularly organised there on various themes (a calendar is available on site).