Valkhof Chapel: monumentally intimate

On Saturday 18 March, we will hold our departure ceremony for pilgrims in the monumental Valkhof Chapel. The octagonal chapel is small and intimate, dating back more than 1,000 years. There are even tiles that go back to the time of the Romans. One of the volunteers who keeps the chapel open once told me a fantastic story.

In Napoleon’s time, the chapel would have suffered the same fate as the surrounding castle: demolished, transported in fragments by ships for the quays of Amsterdam. However, the people of Nijmegen reportedly managed to convince the occupiers that the chapel had a Roman history – and everything about Rome was sacred to the then grand ruler of Europe. The chapel was spared.

A colleague of the volunteer – I suspect a little more precise in nature – later corrected this story. The chapel was spared because the city was able to buy it back. In the end, money turned out to be more convincing than a good story. In any case, the chapel has been used for many years as a storage place for the park service! 

The chapel has been restored to its former glory and is freely accessible to visitors. The board of the managing association, is very welcoming every time we ask to use it for a ceremony. Saturday 18 March at 11.00 am with the first silent walk in the series “The Walk of Wisdom in a year around”: more.   

Think about Nijmegen the next time you walk along the quay in Amsterdam, you may be walking over a piece of Nijmegen. And if you live in the vicinity of Nijmegen: the chapel is looking for volunteers to keep the chapel open: link. 

More about the history of the Valkhof or St. Nicholas Chapel: link.
More about the vacancy as a host/hostess: link.