The Pieterskerk is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in the Dutch city of 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...

, dedicated to Peter the Apostle. Its construction began in 1039 and it was inaugurated on 1 May 1048 by Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht

Bernold, Bishop of Utrecht

Saint Bernulf or Bernold of Utrecht was Bishop of Utrecht .Bernold succeeded Saint Adalbold as Bishop of Utrecht on 24 September 1027, when he was appointed by emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Conrad II...

 (although the lost west towers were probably only finished about a century after the inauguration). The church was the eastern end of Utrecht's "Kerkenkruis

Kerkenkruis

In the Netherlands a kerkenkruis is a cross in the groundplan of a town or city formed by five of its churches. The most famous is that in Utrecht, which includes Utrecht Cathedral and the Pieterskerk.-External links:*...

", of which the Domkerk was the centre. Characteristic of the 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,...

 style in which it is built are the church's large nave pillars, each hewn from one piece of red sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

, and the crypt under the choir. The building is now used by the Walloon Church

Walloon church

A Walloon church describes any Calvinist church building in the Netherlands and its former colonies whose members originally came from the Southern Netherlands and France and whose native language is French...

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