LEIDENS LODEWIJKSKERK - FORMER CLOTH HALL These photos show Leidens Lodewijkskerk (R.C. Church of St. Louis). It was built as the St. Jacobs Gasthuiskapel, a chapel for pre-Reformation travellers making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Campostella in Spain. When the Pilgrims were in Leiden, the former chapel had been rebuilt inside to serve as the guild hall for serge and other wool cloth to be inspected. Several Pilgrims who were weavers, such as William Bradford, had to bring their finished products here to be approved for sale. In 1807 a boatload of gunpowder exploded not far away, demolishing about four square blocks. The devastation stopped just at the chapel. Taking this as a sign, King Louis Napoleon (then ruler of the country) decided the building should once again be a Catholic church. It became the first Catholic church in Holland since the Reformation to be allowed to have a building visible from the street. (All the others up to that time had been blocked from view by houses in front of them - so-called hidden churches.) Recent demolition preparatory to new construction has opened up a view to the back of the church, as seen here. The first picture shows the spire just over roofs on a street called the Lange Brug (Long Bridge). Pilgrim James Chilton and his family lived on the Lange Brug, although we dont know where exactly. The next picture shows the front of the church/guiildhall. The second shows the new view of the rest of the church. You can follow a pictorial tour of Leidens Pilgrim sites on the website of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum: leidenamericanpilgrimmuseum.org/PageF1X.htm
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 17:53:53 +0000
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