Cathedral of St Bavo, Haarlem vs Grote Kerk, Haarlem
Two churches in Haarlem. Cathedral of St Bavo, Haarlem has no online ticket listed; Grote Kerk, Haarlem has no online ticket listed. The table and the two notes below put them side by side; the full pages have what to see, the ticket and the timing for each.
Haarlem has two churches called after Saint Bavo and confusing them is the standard visitor error. The medieval one on the market square has been Protestant since 1578 and holds the famous organ; this one is the Catholic cathedral, built at the turn of the twentieth century, and stands about fifteen minutes west of the centre near the canal. Entry is cheap and covers the church and its treasury museum in the old sacristy. The tower climb is sold separately and takes you out onto a gallery with a view over the dunes towards the sea.
The Grote Kerk, or Saint Bavo's Church, stands on the Grote Markt, the main square of Haarlem, the Netherlands, about fifteen minutes by train from Amsterdam, and a ticket is required for visitors, including an audio guide. It is a large Gothic church, Protestant since the Reformation, and it is best known for its magnificent Müller organ, once played by the young Mozart. It should not be confused with the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Bavo, a later building elsewhere in Haarlem.
