St. Lebuïnuskerk

The Lebuinuskerk, named for Saint Lebuinus, is the principal historic church of Deventer, an old Hanseatic city on the IJssel river in Overijssel. Its tall tower dominates the skyline of the old centre, and the church stands beside the Brink, the market square, making it easy to combine with a walk through the old centre. It is a Gothic building of brick, and it has been the centre of religious life in Deventer for many centuries.

Lebuinus was an Anglo-Saxon missionary who came to this part of the Low Countries in the eighth century to preach Christianity among the Saxons and Frisians who lived along the river. According to tradition, he founded a church at Deventer, and the settlement grew around it. He is regarded as the apostle of the region, and his remains were venerated in the church. The history of Deventer as a religious and learning centre is closely tied to his memory, and the Lebuinuskerk is therefore a place with deep roots.

The present building developed over several centuries, with a large Gothic church that dates mostly from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, though parts are older and some of the fabric is from earlier times. An older crypt lies beneath the church and is one of the earliest surviving parts of the site. The tower, with its high spire and clock, was restored in the later centuries and is a landmark visible from the river. The church was adapted for Protestant worship after the Reformation, and its interior is plain and spacious, with whitewashed walls and tall windows.

Deventer itself was an important intellectual centre in the late Middle Ages. It was a base of the Modern Devotion, a reform movement that stressed simple piety, and it had one of the best-known schools in the Low Countries, which the humanist Erasmus attended. Visitors who walk through the old centre will find narrow streets, merchants' houses and a number of museums. The Waag on the Brink, the city walls, the riverside promenade and the Bergkerk, another large church, are nearby.

The church is often open to visitors in the summer, but opening times vary, and it may be closed during services and events. It suits those interested in church architecture and the history of Christianity in the region. Combine it with a visit to the Brink and a coffee on a terrace.