Sloterdijk and the Petrus Church

Amsterdam is eating away. Many green acres made room for the expanding city.

Today many travelers going from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Central Station will make a stop at Sloterdijk Station. Sloterdijk as seen from the train station: Big office buildings, nothing else.

But hidden behind the Amsterdam Ring Highway you can discover the remains of Old Sloterdijk. A small town, that used to be just outside of Amsterdam.

I was intrigued by this little church between the jungle of big buildings. Although I had seen this place many times growing up not far from here, I felt like an explorer. Columbus maybe?

Snooping around the old houses and checking out the little church, I was noticed by the lady who helps to maintain the church and small cemetery. Feeling bad right away, not very much like a blood thirsty journalist or the blogger with the thick skin and no boundaries, I was making excuses for snooping around. Although the gate was open and had already been taking pictures before she arrived (I am sorry, I only saw the sign about not taking pictures later)

She turned out to be very nice and pleasant, and even showed me the inside of the little church. That would otherwise not have been possible since there are no regular services, and the church is used for weddings only.

I was very happy to get a few stories I would not have known otherwise.

What I didn’t know:

The Church, the cemetery, and the graves will stay here forever. In the Netherlands many graves will be moved after 10 years. Some cemeteries have been removed completely by city! Awful, but true. But this cemetery and this church will stay until the Final Day. The city of Amsterdam lost in court when trying to flatten Sloterdijk, the Church and houses around it. The reason was the cemetery. It has the rights to stay forever. And that fact, has also saved the Petrus Church and the old houses next to the church.

One grave, a small house, is empty. The person who had it built eventually did change his mind to be buried on Sloterdijk. I got more details but will not write them down out of respect for the people involved.

Getting married in Amsterdam? You will love the Petrus Church.

Links:

Wikipedia