St. Willibrordus Basilica

Roermond is a town in the Dutch province of Limburg, at the point where the river Roer flows into the Maas, and it has been an important religious and commercial centre since the Middle Ages. It became the seat of a bishop in the sixteenth century and again in the nineteenth, and its skyline is full of church towers. The identity of the Willibrordus basilica is not easy to confirm, so what follows is a guide to the church heritage that stands behind the name and to the town in which it is set.

Saint Willibrord is among the most important figures in early Dutch Christian history. He was an Anglo-Saxon monk, born in Northumbria in the seventh century, who crossed the sea to the Low Countries around the year 690 to convert the Frisians and other pagan peoples. He was consecrated by the pope as archbishop of the Frisians and based himself at Utrecht, and he founded the abbey of Echternach in what is now Luxembourg, where he died in the first half of the eighth century and where he is buried. He is regarded as the apostle of the Frisians and a patron saint of the Netherlands, and many churches bear his name. A church dedicated to him therefore belongs to the oldest tradition of Christianity in the region.

The Catholic heritage of Roermond is exceptionally rich. The Munsterkerk, the church of Our Lady, is a Romanesque church from the thirteenth century and one of the most beautiful of its kind in the Netherlands. The cathedral of Saint Christopher, a large Gothic church, is the seat of the diocese, and other churches and chapels fill the old streets. The Kapel in 't Zand, the Chapel in the Sand, is a pilgrimage chapel of the seventeenth century and still draws visitors. Those who enter such churches will find high vaults, stained glass, carved altars, statues of saints and a quiet atmosphere that suits reflection.

Visitors should expect limited opening times, since churches are often open only for services or on specified days, and they should behave respectfully. Information on the day is available from the tourist office in the market square.

The town offers more besides. The market square with the town hall, the Stedelijk Museum, the park along the Maas and the shops of the centre are all within a short walk, and the Designer Outlet on the edge of town attracts shoppers from far away. A visit to the churches suits history lovers, pilgrims and architecture fans and takes an hour or two.