Medieval church of Marsum (Mauritius church) under threatening skies by KB Design & Photography (Karen Brouwer)

About "Medieval church of Marsum (Mauritius church) under threatening skies"

by KB Design & Photography (Karen Brouwer)

About the artwork

The church stands a little higher in the landscape, and a nice old path leads up to it. Dark clouds with rain are approaching. But at the front the sun is still shining. The wind was strong. The church has been there for centuries in all weathers. A beautiful piece of history.

It is assumed that the Marsumer church dates from the second half of the 12th century and is therefore one of the oldest brick churches in the province. After dendrochronological research into the roof construction, however, the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken (Old Groningen Churches Foundation) considers it not implausible that the church was built at the beginning of the 14th century. The year 1306 was suggested, but it is also possible that the roof was renewed then.

The church stands on an excavated mound. The largely intact Romanesque church building is almost the only remnant of the church village Marsum, which was almost completely destroyed during the Siege of Delfzijl (1813-1814) in the French era. It is a small single-aisle hall church with a recessed semicircular choir and a gabled tower with the floor facing the nave. This floor was possibly used as a chapel in the past. Low in the north and south wall are narrow windows (hagioscopes). On the apse are still the original monks and nuns (hollow and convex roof tiles). The beamed ceiling is not from the Middle Ages, but from the end of the 18th century, as well as the pulpit.

The church is still used for church services of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. In addition, the building serves as a rehearsal space for the ensemble Super Librum for early music.