Basilica of Our Lady (Maastricht)
Encyclopedia
The Roman catholic Basilica of Our Lady (in Dutch
: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, in Limburgish (Maastrichtian variant
): Slevrouwe) is a Romanesque
basilica
in Maastricht
, The Netherlands, dedicated to Our Lady
of the Assumption
. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea
. The church is dependent of the Diocese of Roermond
and was made a Basilica Minor in 1933.
castrum and adjacent to a religious shrine dedicated to the god Jupiter
, suggests that the site was once occupied by a Roman temple. It is not unlikely that the town's first church was built here and that this church in the 4th century became the cathedral
of the diocese
of Tongeren-Maastricht. It is clear that at one point the church of Saint Servatius
became the main church in Maastricht, but throughout the Middle Ages
the two churches' chapters
remained rivals.
The present church is largely Romanesque. Blocks of stone from the ancient Roman walls were re-used for the westwork which dates from shortly after 1000 AD. Most of the church was built in the course of the 12th century, including the late 12th century East choir with its two- storey ambulatory
with richly decorated capitals
.
In the 14th century a parish church was built next to the main church so the main building could be reserved for the chapter's religious duties. Of this parish church, dedicated to Saint Nicolas
, nothing remains as it was demolished in 1837. In the 15th century the present Star of the Sea chapel was added and a century later the Romanesque cloisters were replaced by the present late Gothic cloisters.
After the incorporation of Maastricht in the French First Republic
in 1794, the cities religious chapters were dissolved and the church of Our Lady was used for all kinds of purposes by the military garrison
. Until 1837 the church remained a blacksmith shop. Many of the church treasures were lost during this period, including a silver reliquary
cross with a large particle of the True Cross
(now in the Vatican Museums
).
From 1887-1917 the church was thoroughly restored by the well-known Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers
who basically removed everything that did not fit his view of the ideal Romanesque church.
. The 15th century statue originally was housed in a chapel at the nearby Franciscan
monastery. In 1801 it was moved to the former parish church of Saint Nicolas and after the closure of that church in 1837, the whole parish including the statue of the Star of the Sea moved to Our Lady's. In 1903 it was placed in the chapel near the main entrance where it remains today and where it is visited daily by hundreds of worshipers. Once a year it is being carried around town in the city's main religious procession
.
in the interior of the Basilica of Our Lady belongs to the highlights of Mosan art
. The 20 highly symbolic capitals in the choir ambulatory depict various kinds of animals, monsters, birds, naked or scarcely-dressed humans entangled in foliage, and humans fighting with animals. Near the center of the ambulatory there are a number of biblical scenes. One capital in particular is famous as it was signed Heimo, probably by its maker, who may also be represented on it, handing over a capital to the virgin Mary. The carved capitals and corbel
s of the choir gallery, as well as the capitals in the nave, depict mainly foliage and some human and animal figures. Most of the capitals, as well as some important relief
s elsewhere in the church, date from the second half of the 12th century. A close relationship has been established between the Romanesque sculpture in Our Lady's and that in the Church of St Peter
in Utrecht
and the double church in Schwarzrheindorf (Bonn
).
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek, in Limburgish (Maastrichtian variant
Maastrichtian dialect
Maastrichtian or Maastrichtian Limburgish is the city dialect and variant of Limburgish spoken in the Dutch city of Maastricht alongside the Dutch language . In terms of speakers it is the most widespread variant of Limburgish, and is a tonal one...
): Slevrouwe) is a Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
, The Netherlands, dedicated to Our Lady
Our Lady
As a general concept, Our Lady may refer to:*Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth*Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic teachings...
of the Assumption
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea
Our Lady, Star of the Sea
Our Lady, Star of the Sea is an ancient title for the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The words Star of the Sea are a translation of the Latin title Stella Maris, first reliably used with relation to the Virgin Mary in the ninth century...
. The church is dependent of the Diocese of Roermond
Diocese of Roermond
The Diocese of Roermond is a diocese of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The diocese is one of the seven Roman-Catholic dioceses suffragan to the Archdiocese of Utrecht....
and was made a Basilica Minor in 1933.
History
The present-day church is not the first church that was built on this site. Since no archeological research has ever been carried out inside the present building, nothing certain can be said about this. The church's site, inside the RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
castrum and adjacent to a religious shrine dedicated to the god Jupiter
Jupiter (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
, suggests that the site was once occupied by a Roman temple. It is not unlikely that the town's first church was built here and that this church in the 4th century became the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Tongeren-Maastricht. It is clear that at one point the church of Saint Servatius
Basilica of Saint Servatius
The Roman catholic Basilica of Saint Servatius, situated in Maastricht at the Vrijthof square, is a mainly Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Servatius.- History :...
became the main church in Maastricht, but throughout the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
the two churches' chapters
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
remained rivals.
The present church is largely Romanesque. Blocks of stone from the ancient Roman walls were re-used for the westwork which dates from shortly after 1000 AD. Most of the church was built in the course of the 12th century, including the late 12th century East choir with its two- storey ambulatory
Ambulatory
The ambulatory is the covered passage around a cloister. The term is sometimes applied to the procession way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar....
with richly decorated capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
.
In the 14th century a parish church was built next to the main church so the main building could be reserved for the chapter's religious duties. Of this parish church, dedicated to Saint Nicolas
Saint Nicolas
Saint-Nicolas may refer to the following places:-In Belgium:*Saint-Nicolas, Belgium, in the Province of Liège*The French name for Sint-Niklaas, in Province of East Flanders-In France:*Saint-Nicolas, Pas-de-Calais...
, nothing remains as it was demolished in 1837. In the 15th century the present Star of the Sea chapel was added and a century later the Romanesque cloisters were replaced by the present late Gothic cloisters.
After the incorporation of Maastricht in the French First Republic
French First Republic
The French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
in 1794, the cities religious chapters were dissolved and the church of Our Lady was used for all kinds of purposes by the military garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
. Until 1837 the church remained a blacksmith shop. Many of the church treasures were lost during this period, including a silver reliquary
Reliquary
A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...
cross with a large particle of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
(now in the Vatican Museums
Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums , in Viale Vaticano in Rome, inside the Vatican City, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries, including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and...
).
From 1887-1917 the church was thoroughly restored by the well-known Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers
Pierre Cuypers
Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station and the Rijksmuseum , both in Amsterdam. More representative for his oeuvre, however, are numerous churches, of which he designed more than 100...
who basically removed everything that did not fit his view of the ideal Romanesque church.
Star of the Sea
The church's main attraction for many people is the miraculous statue of Our Lady, Star of the SeaStar of the Sea
Star of the Sea is an historical novel by the Irish writer Joseph O'Connor published in 2004. The novel is set in 1847 against the backdrop of the Irish famine....
. The 15th century statue originally was housed in a chapel at the nearby Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monastery. In 1801 it was moved to the former parish church of Saint Nicolas and after the closure of that church in 1837, the whole parish including the statue of the Star of the Sea moved to Our Lady's. In 1903 it was placed in the chapel near the main entrance where it remains today and where it is visited daily by hundreds of worshipers. Once a year it is being carried around town in the city's main religious procession
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...
.
Art historical significance
The architectural sculptureArchitectural sculpture
Architectural sculpture is the term for the use of sculpture by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project...
in the interior of the Basilica of Our Lady belongs to the highlights of Mosan art
Mosan art
Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling...
. The 20 highly symbolic capitals in the choir ambulatory depict various kinds of animals, monsters, birds, naked or scarcely-dressed humans entangled in foliage, and humans fighting with animals. Near the center of the ambulatory there are a number of biblical scenes. One capital in particular is famous as it was signed Heimo, probably by its maker, who may also be represented on it, handing over a capital to the virgin Mary. The carved capitals and corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s of the choir gallery, as well as the capitals in the nave, depict mainly foliage and some human and animal figures. Most of the capitals, as well as some important relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
s elsewhere in the church, date from the second half of the 12th century. A close relationship has been established between the Romanesque sculpture in Our Lady's and that in the Church of St Peter
Pieterskerk, Utrecht
The Pieterskerk is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in the Dutch city of Utrecht, dedicated to Peter the Apostle. Its construction began in 1039 and it was inaugurated on 1 May 1048 by Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht...
in Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
and the double church in Schwarzrheindorf (Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
).
Sources
- A.F.W. Bosman: De Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk te Maastricht. Utrecht/Zutphen, 1990
- Elizabeth den Hartog: Romanesque sculpture in Maastricht. Maastricht, 2002
- Ubachs, P.J.H., and I.M.H. Evers, Historische Encyclopedie Maastricht. Zutphen, 2005