Church of Saint Nicolas, Amsterdam: Distant view from Oudezijds Voorburgwal

It is the city's major Catholic church. Officially the church was called St. Nicholas Inside the Walls, i.e. the oldest part of the Amsterdam defense works. The architect, Adrianus Bleijs designed the church based on a combination of several revival styles of which Neo-Baroque and neo-Renaissance are the most prominent. The facade is crowned by two towers with a rose window in between. The center of this window is formed by a bas-relief depicting Christ and the four Evangelists, made in the Van den Bossche and Crevels workshop in 1886. A sculpture of the patron saint of both the church and the city of Amsterdam was placed in a niche in the upper section of the gable top. The well-known sculptor Bart van Hove (1850-1914) made the sculpture in 1886. The crossing is articulated by a large octagonal tower with a baroque dome and lantern and crowned by a cross.