Hervormde Marekerk, Leiden

Welcome to the Marekerk

History
Arent van ´s Gravesande, the town’s architect, designed the church in 1639. Other fine examples of his work in Leiden are De Lakenhal (Oude Singel 28, in which building the municipal museum is located) and the Bibliotheca Thysiana (Rapenburg 25). The growing town needed another church and the Marekerk was the first church to be built in Leiden after the Reformation. It is an example of Dutch classicism. In the drawings by Van ´s Gravesande one can see that the pulpit is the centrepiece of the church. The pulpit is modelled after the one in the Nieuwe Kerk at Haarlem (designed by Jacob van Campen). The building was first used in 1650, and is still used twice every Sunday by the members of the parish.

Building material
The church is built from bricks and German sandstone is used for the Ionic pillars, the window frames and the portals as well as for decoration. The dome is made of solid oak, perhaps because Van ´s Gravesande started his career as a carpenter or maybe because this wooden construction weighed less on the piles. The dome is partly covered with lead, partly with slates and weighs about 120.000 kg. Traces of paint have been found on them.

The pulpit and the 'draught screens' and doors date from 1650 and are made of solid oak.

The chandeliers date from the 1930s. The centre one weighs 650 kg. whereas the 7 smaller ones weigh 450 kg. each.

Sizes
The height, inclusive of the guilded pinecone on the dome is 55 m.; the largest width is 32,5 m. The height inside in the middle is 29,5 m., the gallery is 11,5 m. high. The dome has a diameter of 17 m., the guilded clock on the ceiling has a diameter of 3,25 m.

The organ
The organ has a history of its own. It is built by Pieter de Swart around 1560 for the choir of the Pieterskerk (the oldest parish church in Leiden). Jan Jacobsz van Lin altered it in 1629. In 1733 it was moved to the Marekerk. On this occasion Rudolph Garrels enlarged the organ. Between 1869 and 1872 it was altered again, this time by N.A. Lohman and J. Schaaffeld. The latest alterations date from 1965 by Flentrop. The coats of arms on the organ are those of the churchwardens of 1733.

Marekerk today
Even today, the Marekerk is still being used as a meeting place for christians. You are invited to join us during one of our services, which are held twice every sunday, at 10 am. and 5 pm.