Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: provincie groningen

Church of Schildwolde (Kerk van Schildwolde) dates from the 17th century. The present church was built on the foundations of an older church from the 13th century. The Reformed church is a simple aisle less church built of brick, which is plastered. The church was consecrated in 1686. The most striking part of the complex is the detached bell tower, dating back at least to the year 1289 and once belonging to the former church. The roof of the spire is not made of roof tiles, but entirely built in brick. The tower has a height of 46 metres. The tower in Schildwolde is one of the two remaining so called ‘juffertorens’ (‘damsel towers’) in the province of Groningen. There is a legend about the ‘juffertorens’, saying: once there were three very rich but 'sinful' sisters (the ‘damsels') who thought only of their appearance. They regretted their sins and promised they would each build a tower as penance for their sins. But most probably the name ‘juffertoren’ is less prosaic: this kind of narrow tapering church towers were called after a ‘juffer’, which in Dutch also is a long tapering pine trunk.

The oldest part of the Dutch Reformed Church of Uithuizermeeden is dating back to the 13th century. The white walls were plastered in the 19th century. The church tower (Meister Toren) was renewed in 1717, commissioned by Onno Tamminga of Alberda, lord at the nearby Rensumaborg. After a fire at the end of the 19th century the tower was rebuilt in its original form. The remarkable white and blue tower has a height of 48,5 metres. The church has a beautiful interior and a Hinz organ, which was consecrated in 1785.