5 Churches to Explore in North Holland

The Basilica of Saint Nicholas is located in the Old Centre district of Amsterdam, Netherlands, very close to Amsterdam's main railway station. The church is built on a previously urban site, necessitating a northwest-southeast axis to be adopted, rather than the standard east-west axis. The main facade is flanked by two towers, with a rose window in between.

A Reformed Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral located on the central market square (Grote Markt) in the Dutch city of Haarlem. Another Haarlem church called the Cathedral of Saint Bavo now serves as the main cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Haarlem-Amsterdam.

The New Church is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace. Formerly a Dutch Reformed Church parish, it now belongs to the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. It is no longer used for church services but is used as an exhibition space. It is also used for organ recitals. There is a café in one of the buildings attached to the church that has an entrance to the church.

The Oude Church is the is Amsterdam’s oldest building founded circa 1213 and consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. After the Reformation in 1578, it became a Calvinist church, which it remains today. It stands in De Wallen, now Amsterdam's main red-light district. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein.

The Westerkerk was a Protestant church on the Kruiskade in Rotterdam, Netherlands completed in 1870 and destroyed in the bombing of Rotterdam in May 1940. The Westerkerk was built between 1620 and 1631 in Renaissance style according to designs by architect Hendrick de Keyser. He is buried in the church he designed earlier: the 'Zuiderkerk'. The building of the Westerkerk was finished and completed by his son Pieter de Keyser and inaugurated on June 8, 1631.