The tower was commenced in 1331 and completed in 1382. It rises from a magnificently vaulted base. The lower portion is rectangular, but the octagon which forms the upper stages and "pierced to the light of day," as the French have it, follows the best accepted style of its era. In its way it is, although quite different, the rival of St. Ouen's "Crown of Normandy" at Rouen.
There are 453 steps to be mounted if one cares to ascend to the platform, 103 metres from the ground. One gets the usual bird's-eye view, with this difference, that the glance of the eye seems to reach out into an interminable distance, by reason of the general flatness of the country. One sees, at any rate, quite all of the provinces of South Holland, with the Zuyder Zee to the north, and a part of Guelderland and North Brabant. The tower possesses also a fine set of chimes of forty-two bells which is reminiscent of Belgium; but, unlike those in the famous old belfry at Bruges, the chimes on the Domkerk at Utrecht do not ring out popular marches or the airs of popular songs.
The interior is so crowded with benches, [{340}]similar to what English churchgoing people know as pews, that its original aspect is somewhat changed. Eighteen great pillars hold aloft the vaulting of the choir and transepts.
UTRECHT
and Its
CATHEDRAL
A notable tomb in black and white marble is that of Admiral van Gent (1676), and another is that of Bishop Georges d'Egmont (1549). In the vault beneath the edifice were buried the viscera of Conrad II. and Henry V., who died at Utrecht, and whose remains, with this exception, were transported to Speyer.
A fine Gothic cloister connects the cathedral with the university. This has, in recent years, undergone restoration of a most practical and devoted kind. It is a marvel of modern architectural work.
St. Peter's is another ancient Roman Catholic church now devoted to Protestant uses.
St. John's also comes under this category. It is a fine example of a small Gothic church of the variety which was best known only in Holland and Belgium; much more severe than the French species, but interesting withal.
Within the walls of this last are two tombs quite worthy of attention and remark. The one against the western wall is that of a cardinal who died in the fifteenth century, and the [{342}]other is that of Balthazar Frederick of Stoech. The latter, though dating only from the eighteenth century, is charmingly sculptured, and has two superb figures of weeping children done in marble.