July 15- Haarlem

 July 15- Haarlem

A nice slow start this morning as we only planned to spend the day exploring the sights that we had been passing for the last couple of days. 


We started off in St Bavo’s, a 15th century post-reformation Protestant church and former Catholic cathedral, located in the middle of Grote Markt (the central market square). 


Similar to some of the other ‘converted’ churches we’ve seen the church is huge as well as being really quite decorative on the outside. On the inside however it’s not so ornate but does have a pretty spectacular organ to make up for it. This organ, apparently one of the world's most historically important, was built in the early 1700’s and on completion was the largest in the world.  Adding to its fame some pretty well known musicians have played this organ as well, with Mendelssohn, Händel, and even a 10-year-old Mozart, amongst the many. 


While in the church we found out the origin of the term ‘stinking rich’.  Apparently it was common for the rich to pay extra to be able to be buried in the floor of the church.  However, in years gone by the coffins were never sealed and so after a period of time the smell of rotting bodies began to waft up through the church floor. This bought about the term ‘stinking rich’ (or at least the Dutch equivalent! 😊)

Our next stop was to the Teylers museum.  Described elsewhere as “the best-preserved 18th-century public knowledge institution for the arts and sciences in the world. It has been open to the public since 1784, welcoming all those who are eager to look at paintings and drawings by the Old Masters, magnificent minerals, ingenious scientific instruments, precious books, and centuries-old fossils”.  How could I possibly disagree with all of that, it was fantastic. 



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