Haren (Gr): reformed church

The reformed church of Haren was
originally named St. Nicolaas. Ever since the Reformation in ca. 1600
it has been protestant. The church was probably built on the site of a
pagan sanctuary and is first mentioned in 1311.
It's a one-aisled church with a narrower, rectangular
choir and a tall tower. The entire church was built in the first half
of the 13th century and is in Romanesque style. The walls of the nave
are decorated with blind arches that seem to suggest that the church
once had side-aisles. However, these arches were always closed, and the
nave always consisted of one aisle only. The original small windows
were later replaced by bigger, pointed ones, except for those in the
first trave. At the north side is a closed entrance.
The rectangular choir is two traves long. It has the old small windows
and is decorated with blind niches on its east side. At the north side
are two closed entrances. In 1891 a consistory was built at the east
side of
the choir, designed by N.W. Lit.
The tower was restored by C.H. Peters
in 1914. Peters restored the Romanesque details, removed two big
buttresses at the front and replaced the spire with the current upper
part with four gables and an octagonal spire.
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