Basilica of Saint Nicholas

The Basilica of Saint Nicholas is the city's major Catholic church. Officially the church was called St. Nicholas inside the Walls. The architect, Adrianus Bleijs designed the church basing himself on a combination of several revival styles of which Neo-Baroque and neo-Renaissance are the most prominent models. The facade is crowned by two towers with a rose window in between. A sculpture of the patron saint of both the church and the city of Amsterdam was placed in a niche in the upper section of the gable top. The basis of the groundplan is the scheme of the classic three-aisled cross-basilica, which consists of a nave, two aisles and a single transept. In the corners formed by the transept and the nave, two chapels are located, traditionally devoted to Mary and Joseph.