Construction & naming
The construction of this late-Gothic church started in the fourteenth century. The forty-two metre high tower (built between 1310-1350) and the chancels (first half of the fifteenth century) are the oldest parts of the church. The Maartenskerk (St. Martin’s Church) was completed around 1470.
The Maartenskerk is dedicated to Saint Martin (316-397AD), Bishop of Tours. Saint Martin of Tours was known for his simple lifestyle and care for the poor. Saint Martin is the patron saint and namesake of the village of Sint-Maartensdijk.
Detail in the ridge of the main chancel, referring to the history of Saint Martin of Tours.
Historic buildings and monuments
On the north side of the main chancel is a burial chapel, built in 1420 by Frank van Borssele, lord of Sint-Maartensdijk, for his parents Floris van Borssele and Oede van Bergen. Their tomb was badly damaged in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Besides this tomb, there are more than 50 gravestones in the church, including for canons (lay priests), mayors and stewards of the castle of Sint-Maartensdijk. There is, for example, a funerary monument for Cornelis Liens, who managed the castle and the associated land on behalf of the Princes of Orange. The north chancel was probably also the place where the marriage between Frank van Borssele and Jacoba van Beieren, Countess of Holland and Zeeland, was solemnized.