Het mirakel van Amersfoort

In the storry about the tower, I told it was named after Maria, because of the Miracle that happened.
Now I will tell the storry about the miracle.

In the year 1444 a woman named "Geertgen Arents " from Nijkerk. Was on her way to Amersfoort to become a nun. She brought all her stuff with her, and it showed she was living a poor life.

This is whats left of it, in the glas vile the statue itself.

One of her belongings was a cheap statue of Maria.
Embarrassed by the idea, what the nuns would think about her statue. She decided to throw it in the water.

Then later a lady called "Margriet Albert Ghisen" got a vision, from Maria that told her to get the statue from the water under the ice. Margriet told the painter at whos house she was staying, about the vision. He told her that she was dreaming.

After the third time she got the vision, she went to the place and made a hole in the ice. There was the statue of Maria, untouched by the ica and the streaming of the water. Margriet took the statue home with her, and at christmas night she brought it to the chappel.



This storry atracted manny pelgrims, from far places. All these pelgrims gave a financially boost to Amersfoort and the chappel.

An anonymous painter, painted the storry in the 16th century. The picture shows Margriet getting the statue from the water, the city wall and in the background the tower, that is build from the profit the chappel made.

Not that manny people know about the storry anymore, but still every year in may a procession takes place. Starting at the tower and going to the place where the statue is found.

Onze Lieve Vrouwe toren

At the center off Amersfoort infact the exact center off Holland. You can see the "Onze Lieve Vrouwe toren" what means "Our Beloved Lady tower". Back in the days, it was connected to a church, but the church went down due to an explosion.

The constructing of the tower started in the year 1444. That year a miracle happened in Amersfoort, called "het mirakel van Amersfoort". It involved a small statue of  Maria. As of this the financing for the build, was mostly done by the chapel that kept the small statue. So thats where the name is comming from.

Now a days you can climb the tower to look from the top. On every layer you can spot nice things.

During the climb, we saw this pigeon looking over the city. It looks kinde proud with the chest up and forward.

The higher you get the more there is to see. At every layer you can catch some breath, before continueing the climb. When you get higher the stairs become smaller and smaller.

But the view from the top is worth the climb. On one side you can see the historical center, at the other side the more modern part with the main train station.

The picture shows the "St Joriskerk", that is build on the place where the former bishop off Utrecht "Hendrik van Vianden" founded Amersfoort.

When the sky is clear you can see all the way untill Amsterdam.

Muurhuizen

The Muurhuizen is a famous street in Amersfoort. The name means wallhouses, because the houses are made of the first citywall.

In this street you find manny different types of houses, the one above has a small tower on it.

This picture shows that the street is going round, at the other side of the houses is a channel going arround the old center.

The street is also kinda small for modern day traffic, so most of it is one way traffic. But what can you expect, the first citywall got build at the late 13th centruy. In the year 1380 they started on the second citywall, and they finished it in 1440.

During the build of the second citywall, they started to replace the first wall by these houses.