The Reformed Church (also Grote Kerk) is a three-aisled hall church from the 15th century in the Drenthe town of Sleen. The church tower stands at 68 metres, making it the tallest church tower in Drenthe. In 1867, the tower was struck by lightning and burned down. Because money were in tight supply, the new spire was not built until 1894.
Van Gogh wrote the following about his early-morning trip:
'In the early morning lig…
The Reformed Church (also Grote Kerk) is a three-aisled hall church from the 15th century in the Drenthe town of Sleen. The church tower stands at 68 metres, making it the tallest church tower in Drenthe. In 1867, the tower was struck by lightning and burned down. Because money were in tight supply, the new spire was not built until 1894.
Van Gogh wrote the following about his early-morning trip:
'In the early morning light, as the roosters began their matinal crowing at the huts scattered over the heath, the few cottages we passed - surrounded by thin poplars whose yellow leaves one could hear falling - became an old stumpy tower in a churchyard with an earthen rampart & beech hedge, which made way for flat landscapes of heath and cornfields, resembling in every way the most beautiful Corots. A silence, a mystery, a peacefulness that he alone could paint.'
Both the church and the tower have been listed as national monuments.
