Church Elst during sunset by Nicky Kapel

The Grote or Sint-Maartenskerk, Sint-Werenfriduskerk or Dutch Reformed Church is a church building in Elst in the municipality of Overbetuwe in the Dutch province of Gelderland. The church building stands on a rise on the Grote Molenstraat and the Sint Maartenstraat.

The building is a national monument.

n prehistoric times there was an open-air sanctuary of the Batavians on the site of the church building. In Roman times there were two Roman temples: the Temples of Elst from the first century A.D. Remnants can still be found under and around the church.

Around the eighth century a Romanesque hall church dedicated to St. Martin was built. This is said to be the first Christian church at this location which, according to tradition, was founded by St. Werenfridus of Elst. Werenfridus was one of the helpers of the Utrecht bishop Willibrord and had the task of converting the people around Elst to Christianity.

In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the hall church was expanded or rebuilt in Romanesque style, including a crypt.

In the middle of the 15th century the choir and in the last quarter of the 15th century (around 1483) a nave with north aisle were built. The tower was also built in the late fifteenth century. The church was then dedicated to Werenfried van Elst.

After 1579 the church came into the hands of the Protestants when public Catholic worship was forbidden.

In September 1944, the church was largely destroyed during the Battle of Arnhem and burned down completely.

In 1947, extensive archaeological research was carried out in which remains of the two Gallo-Roman temples and the eighth-century hall church with its extensions were found under the floor of the nave and side aisle and under the choir. (Source: Wikipedia)