Today I visited what is now my favorite church in Europe: Saint Bavo’s Grote Kerk, built in the early 1300s. It is the centerpiece of Haarlem, a town 15 minutes outside Amsterdam, and a national Dutch landmark. (America’s Harlem was named after Haarlem, back when New York was called Nieuw Amsterdam.)

The church is most famous for its majestic pipe organ: 5,068 pipes, nearly 100 feet high! Händel and Mozart (at age 10) once played here. I walked in during either a rehearsal or a jam session — somebody was blasting the heck out of all the different pipes.

The floor of the church is a seemingly random assortment of stone slabs, each with different carvings and inscriptions. These slabs bathe in the light of the stained glass window above.

Detail of one stained glass window

The interior baptistry chapel, which is sealed off in ornate ironwork, is lined with threatening spikes — perhaps to keep the pigeons out of christenings.