With his signature Bishop Jos Punt today finalised the sale of his residence on Haarlem’s Nieuwe Gracht. The monumental building has been the home of the bishops of Haarlem and most of the diocesan offices for more than 150 years. Bishop Punt will be moving to the rectory adjoining the cathedral basilica of St. Bavo, where auxiliary Bishop Jan Hendriks already resides. The fate of the diocesan offices will be decided later, as the move is expected to take place in early 2015. The building will be then remodeled into a hotel.
^A view of the bishop’s residence and diocesan offices from across the canal.
The building, which is a registered monument, is a complex of at least five adjoining buildings. At the heart are a residential home dating from 1734 and a neo-renaissance style building designed by noted architect Pierre Cuypers, who is responsible for many public buildings and churches throughout the country (and whose son, Jos Cuypers, designed St. Bavo’s cathedral).
The downsizing is not the first of its kind in the Netherlands. In the past the offices and the bishop’s residence of, to name but two, the Diocese of Groningen-Leeuwarden and the Archdiocese of Utrecht were also moved to a single central location. Few bishops, however, live as close to their cathedral as Bishop Punt will. A cathedral houses a bishop’s seat, so it makes sense for him to be frequently there or, at least, nearby.
In Caelo et in Terra 