| Project Id |
3713 |
| Project Name |
Dominicanenkerk Maastricht, Netherlands |
| Description |
The Dominicanenkerk (Dominican church) is a Gothic monastery church situated in the city centre of Maastricht. The church is built in the 13th century of marl stone on a foundation of millstone-grit, consecrated in 1294. In 1796 the church’s ecclesiastical function ended, its later uses being a.o. stables, a bike shed, exhibition space and a party hall. In 2006 the old Dominican church in Maastricht got a new destiny. A bookshop was established inside the church. Until 2013 the bookshop was part of the bookshop chains Selexyz and Polare. After the bankcruptcy in 2014 the bookshop restarted as Bookshop Dominicanen and is now an independant bookshop. The bookshop receives approximately 700.000 visitors a year. Besides selling books, music and non-books, over 150 events a year (exhibitions, debates, interviews, readings, music, workshops etc.) are being organized. Maastricht coffeeburner Blanche Dael runs the coffeebar Coffeelovers. |
| Description of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the project |
The bookshop has rightly been named one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world, in a completely intact old church full of wall and ceiling paintings. According to many, the "true power of reading" comes into its own in the old church. The sacral elements such as the stained-glass windows, fresco’s, vaults and the incidence of light have been saved. To keep the view of the height of the church, a steel a-centric ‘book tower’ with two floors was erected (400m2). On the northern wall you can see the oldest known wall painting (secco, not a fresco) depicting the life of St. Thomas Aquinas (Dominican and philosopher) from 1337. The major renovation went smoothly, thanks to a successful public-private partnership between the municipality, monument care, project developer and the new user Selexyz. The architect Merkx + Girod from Amsterdam won the Lensvelt Architectuur Prijs in Holland in 2007. |
| Web links |
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominicanenkerk_(Maastricht) |
| Country |
Netherlands |
| City size |
Intermediate cities (between 50.000-1 million people) |
