The Netherlands – Zwolle

I travelled here on the train from Amsterdam, changing at Utrecht.

Zwolle is surrounded by its moat, still intact after nearly four hundred years. On the ‘island’ occupied by the town are nine bastions visible amongst the trees as I walked into the centre from the train station.

I headed towards De Peperbus, the tower resembling a pepper mill of the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk church with its neo-Gothic interior. In the sixteenth century, the Protestants closed down this Catholic church and it served other purposes unconnected with religion until it was returned to the Catholics in 1809.

Next was the Grote Kerk with its four-thousand pipe organ and an austere interior familiar to Dutch protestant churches. The Hoofdwacht, the municipal guardhouse, adjoins the church and bears the words Vigilate et Orate as this was where public executions took place.

From certain angles, the Museum de Fundatie appears to have a large bar of soap on its roof, like a splendid hat. The glass panelling in one corner shows that this space is used for temporary exhibitions. The permanent collection is mainly modern Dutch Art with paintings by Turner and Bernini too.

Not all the churches in Zwolle are used for worship as I saw when I visited Waanders In de Broeren which is a large bookshop selling some books in English as well as magazines. There is also a cafe.