Nederland - Acquoy, Hervormde kerk

Nowadays the Hervormde kerk (Reformed Church) - originally named Cathrijnekerk consists of a 19th-century nave and a detached, 15th-century tower. The oldest mention of a church dates back to 1395.

The brick tower dates back to the second half of the 15th century and is built in late-Gothic style. The construction was plagued by flooding from the river Linge, which regularly washed away the soil from underneath the tower. The builders tried to correct this problem half way up, which only caused it to lean to one side. In the 18th century, the upper part of the tower was demolished to prevent the it from toppling over all-together. The rest of the church was also demolished after it had been badly damaged by a hurricane in 1674. It was replaced by the current Reformed Church in 1844.

The remaining tower is 17.5 metres high and still consists of two sections. The top of the tower is tilted 115 cm off-centre. Its angle is in fact almost similar to that of its famous Italian counterpart, the “leaning tower of Pisa”. In the tiny churchyard one of the graves belongs to “Cornelia Pisa”. Cornelia’s name and the tower’s crooked appearance have contributed to the tower´s nickname as the scheve toren van Pisa te Acquoy (leaning tower of Pisa in Acquoy).