Alkmaar - Grote Kerk

At the west end of the old town of Alkmaar, which is surrounded by beautiful gardens laid out on the line of the old fortifications, is the Grote Kerk or St Laurentiuskerk (Reformed), a fine Late Gothic church built between 1470 and 1520, with a carillon. It occupies the site of an earlier church which was destroyed in 1468 by the collapse of its unfinished tower. Notable features of this cruciform basilica - a fine example of Brabantine Gothic - are the pulpit (1665), the Baroque stalls, the monument of Count Floris V of Holland (d. 1296) in the choir, a Late Gothic organ (1511) in the north ambulatory and a 16th century brass in the south transept. There is also a large organ of 1645 (recital times given).