Eygelshoven Church
clik on the pictures and they will enlarge
I’ve lived in Eygelshoven for almost 10 years now. My house is sort of on top of a small hill. It takes me 20 – 30 minutes to walk to the bottom of the hill and back. So it is a nice little bit of exercise. I try to do this 4 or 5 times a week.-
Today when I got to the bottom of the hill, which is right in the center of our little village, I 
decided to take a little detour and take a few pictures of the historic church in the center of town. -
While I was walking around the church taking pictures an old man walked through the church yard. I stopped him to ask about the church, and it turns out that he is the pastor of the church.
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I learned a lot from him. Two thousand years ago the main Roman road from the Roman Imperial city of Cologne going to England ran right past this church, thus going through
the center of our village.
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I learned a lot from him. Two thousand years ago the main Roman road from the Roman Imperial city of Cologne going to England ran right past this church, thus going through
the center of our village.This is logical as it would parallel the little river called the Wurm. In the 21st century this little stream is the boundary between Germany and The Netherlands. I guess it is a few hundred yards East of my house.
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The oldest part of the structure is a defensive fortification that the people retreated into in times of invaders. The
only way in was via a ladder. This part of the building dates to 
about 1000 A.D. To keep things in historical perspective, this was the period after the breakdown of the Carolingian Empire. Right about when the first Crusades began.
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The oldest part of the structure is a defensive fortification that the people retreated into in times of invaders. The
only way in was via a ladder. This part of the building dates to 
about 1000 A.D. To keep things in historical perspective, this was the period after the breakdown of the Carolingian Empire. Right about when the first Crusades began.He 
told me that some of the bricks used in the construction of the defensive tower date back to the Roman era. Recycled construction material, which was very normal back then.
told me that some of the bricks used in the construction of the defensive tower date back to the Roman era. Recycled construction material, which was very normal back then. 
This made me feel really good because on a prior examination of the church I had thought to myself, “Wow, some of these bricks look just like what the Romans used.” The orange stone in the picture to the left is clearly a terracotta Roman roof tile.-
The choir portion of the church was built in 1509, and in 1517 the Bishop of Liege consecrated the church.
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He told me that on
Sunday mornings at 9:00 they hold their services which includes Gregorian chants. Wowie Zowie!
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To see more pictures of this church click on this link: http://tinyurl.com/yk2773
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