Leyden - St Pieterskerk

A little way west of the Town Hall is the old St Pieterskerk, in which the liberation of Leiden from Spanish rule is celebrated every year on October 3. The foundations of this Late-Gothic cruciform basilica date from 1121, when Leiden's first church was built on this site. At the beginning of the 13th century the building of a new and larger church was begun by Rutger van Kampen. The choir was completed in 1339, the nave with its double aisles later in the 14th century. In 1412 the choir was enlarged by the addition of an ambulatory. At the west end of the nave was a 110m/360ft high tower, which collapsed in 1512 and was not rebuilt. The timber barrel-vaulting extends to the west front, built on to which is a small porch-like structure