Monday 2 December 2013

Our World Tuesday,ABC Wednesday, U for Utrecht

In Utrecht's ancient city centre you can find many buildings and structures from the Early Middle Ages. It has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century. Currently it is the see of the Archbishop of Utrecht, the most important Dutch Roman Catholic leader. Utrecht is also the see of the archbishop of the Old Catholic church, titular head of the Union of Utrecht (Old Catholic), and the location of the offices of the main Protestant church. Until the Dutch Golden Age, Utrecht was the most important city of the Netherlands; then, Amsterdam became its cultural centre and most populous city.

Utrecht is host to Utrecht University, the largest university of the Netherlands, as well as several other institutes for higher education. Due to its central position within the country, it is an important transport hub for both rail and road transport. It has the second highest number of cultural events in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam.

The first chapel dedicated to Saint Martin in Utrecht was founded around 630 by Frankish clergy under the patronage of the Merovingian kings but was destroyed during an attack of the Frisians on Utrecht shortly thereafter. The site of this first chapel within Utrecht is unknown. Saint Willibrord (died 739), the Apostle to the Frisians, established a second chapel devoted to Saint Martin on (or close to) the site of the current Dom. This church was destroyed by the Normans in the 9th century during one of their many raids on Utrecht, but was reconstructed by Bishop Balderik in the 10th century. During this period St. Martin's came to be the principal church (or minster) of Utrecht, see of the bishop.






Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar. Thank you Team of O. W. T.!

 With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with U. Please join us!

26 comments:

Sylvia K said...

A beautiful place and wonderful captures for the day, Wil! Hope you have a great week!

Cloudia said...

Thank you for sharing. What a great tower



ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^=

Kay said...

I do LOVE your header photo, Wil! I think we did visit Utrecht. It sounds familiar.

Roger Owen Green said...

Ha! I did a university too. Yours is prettier, though.

A Colorful World said...

Lovely images, and so interesting! I've been away a LOT over the past few months and apologize!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful shots and creative angles ~ lovely countryside too ~ thanks, carol, xxx

eileeninmd said...

Lovely tour and photos. The church is beautiful. Thanks for sharing your world. Have a happy week!

Fun60 said...

Looks as though you have some interesting buildings there. Your header is stunning.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful shots of the place. The architecture is magnificent.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a beautiful place!

chai-and-chardonnay.blogspot.com said...

I love Utrecht and visit regularly since my son visits the University. A beautiful little town with a lot of charem.

Carver said...

Very interesting post for the letter U and a great sequence of photographs.

MaR said...

It was one of the first cities I visited in the Netherlands, many years ago!

U is for...

photowannabe said...

Simply beautiful ancient architecture.
I love learning about the places you share with us.

Leslie: said...

LOVE the architecture of the church, especially

Leslie
abcw team

Kate said...

Utrecht, as you present it with those marvelous photos must be a terrific place to tour. Kate, ABC Team

Anonymous said...

Lovely captures of the Dom, Wil! Haven't been in Utrecht in a long time!

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

The architecture is breathtaking. Blessings!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Very beautiful images of Utrecht and information that was all new to me. Thank you for it.

Your header shot is mesmerizing... sunlight like a sheet of gold on that beautiful pond.

lotusleaf said...

Utterly enchanting tour!

ChrisJ said...

Magnificent architecture -- and photos of course, but nothing can contend with your header of willow trees!

Hazel said...

A beautiful place! Its appeal to me are the structures from the early middle ages. How fascinating it sounds! Love the double U's in your post; I used to visit the Utrecht University website when I was working on a research proposal.

Hazel

Obsessivemom said...

What beautiful pictures. I love your snapshot posts about Netherlands.

Anonymous said...

Wil, so many facets of the cathedral are shown by the various pictures. Your love of the building shows! Glad you were at ABC with this post. Peace, Amy

Indrani said...

University is a great theme for 'U'. Got to learn about this University, thanks to you!

Suzy said...

Love the last tower picture and thanks for giving us info on Utrecht

Dropping by from the prompt

Suzy-Someday Somewhere