DodoFinance Breaking News Made For You!
With high energy prices and low temperatures, heating your home isn’t fun these days. The churches also suffer. Because such a gigantic space, you don’t just heat it. It therefore remains cold in many churches, even on busy Christmas days. “We advise people to dress warmly,” explains the director of the Grote Kerk in Breda.
A visit to various churches in our province shows that the heating is often turned on especially for Christmas. But completely warming these large buildings is hardly possible. At the Grote Kerk in Breda, for example, it will not be more than eighteen degrees. “We can heat, but given the current prices we are reluctant”, explains director Marieke Wiegel.
The Grote Kerk has underfloor heating. A real tactic has been devised to heat the whole room. “We start heating three days in advance. Then a large fan runs all night to distribute the heat throughout the room,” says Wiegel.
It won’t be very hot though. “If the doors are open for half an hour, you already lose about three degrees. So it’s difficult.” To warm visitors, about three hundred blankets have been stored. “We expect a bit more people at Christmas, so we advise people to dress warmly. We do this at all of our events,” says Wiegel.
“During the day, the stove is at ten degrees.”
The heating is also on in the Sint Catharinakerk in Eindhoven, but visitors are advised to keep their coats on. “During the day, the stove is set to ten degrees, but with concerts and church parties on Sundays, we go up a bit,” explains manager Laurens Mulkens. Visitors can factor in around sixteen degrees during Christmas celebrations. “It has been agreed with the parish that the stove will be lit during Christmas.”
The heating is normally switched off in the Basilica of Oudenbosch. “But it will definitely happen at Christmas,” says secretary Jan Bedaf. “How hot it is depends a bit on the temperature outside. But I think it will be around seventeen degrees in the church.”
It is not necessary to stoke the fire long in advance in the two churches. “Our stove is programmed, so it automatically makes sure it’s heated at a certain time. It usually starts heating a few hours in advance,” Mulkens explains.
“That’s also part of the charm.”
If you go to the church in Waalwijk or Den Bosch, it is advisable to wear warm clothes. At the Sint Jan de Doper church in Waalwijk, it is no warmer than twelve degrees. “People know they have to wear warm clothes, we made that clear,” says sexton Anton van Delft.
“The winter cold is part of the charm of Saint-Jean.”
In the St. John’s Cathedral in Den Bosch, the heating does not turn on at all. In fact, the church has no heating at all. “We never had that,” says Plebaan Vincent Blom. “The building is so big that it’s impossible to do that. It’s not good for all the old woodcarvings that are in the church.” The plebs are not afraid to make people shiver during midnight mass. “Everyone knows that the church has no heating. Some people bring their own blankets. It is also part of the charm of Sint-Jan that it is cold in winter.”
READ ALSO: Heating in the church to a maximum of 12 degrees: “Hat and scarf”
“Food expert. Unapologetic bacon maven. Beer enthusiast. Pop cultureaholic. General travel scholar. Total internet buff.”
