Utrecht - Cathedral of St Martin

In the center of Utrecht lies the Domplein (Cathedral Square), with the Cathedral of St Martin (Reformed), one of the most magnificent churches in the Netherlands, on its east side. Begun in 1254 on the site of an earlier Romanesque church (12th C.) and completed in 1517, the Cathedral now consists only of the choir (completed in 1317), the transepts (1455-79) and two chapels in the outer south aisle, the nave having been destroyed in a thunderstorm in 1674. The ruins were cleared away only in 1826, when the Domplein was laid out on the site. The church was last restored between 1981 and 1988.