Basilica of St Plechelm
Encyclopedia
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
town of Oldenzaal dedicated to the 8th century Irish monk Saint Plechelm
Plechelm
Plechelm is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and a patron saint of the Netherlands. Plechelm, also Pleghelm or Plechelmus was a Benedictine monk who traveled to Rome with St. Wiro and St. Otger. He became a missionary in Northumbria and The Netherlands and died in St. Odiliënberg...
, whose festival on 15 July has been on the calendar of the medieval diocese of Utrecht ever since his canonisation in the 10th century. This festival is still celebrated annually at the basilica, and the saint's 1050th anniversary was celebrated there in 2004. The pope granted it the title of minor basilica in 1950.
History
The oldest parts of the existing building date from the middle and the second half of the 12th century, but the history of the church goes back to the 8th century, when the traveling missionary Plechelmus founded the first church on the site, the Silvesterkerk, initially dedicated to pope Silvester and sometime before 954 rededicated to Plechelmus himself (canonised after the elevation of his relics). In 954, bishop Balderik of Utrecht founded a chapterChapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
in Oldenzaal and expanded and restored the 8th-century church, allowing the relics of Plechelmus used on his canonisation to be transferred to it. Since then had the Plechelmuskerk of Oldenzaal has had high status - for example, during the Middle Ages its chapter was one of only four outside Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
that could participate in electing the bishop of Utrecht.