Sint-Janskerk (St. John's Church), Maastricht

The Protestant St. John's Church is immediately next to the Roman Catholic Basilica of Saint Servatius. The churches are often referred to as the church twins.

St. John's Church is named after John the Baptist and was founded around 1200 by the chapter of Saint Servatius to function as a baptismal and parish church for the parish of Saint Servatius. This relieved the load on the Saint Servatius Church and allowed it to function exclusively as a collegiate and pilgrimage church.

St. John was one of Masstricht's four Catholic parish churches during the Middle Ages. The current structure was built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Gothic baptistery was added in 1414.

During the medieval times, on the Saturdays before Easter and Pentecost, the canons of Saint Servatius went in procession to St. John to consecrate the baptismal water. On that occasion, the church choir sang to the canons from the first transept of St. John's.

St. John's became a Protestant church in 1632, while St. Servatius remained a Catholic church. Some original Catholic wall paintings remain in St. John's.

The interior features an impressive rib vault. The polychrome corbels feature angels, bishops, and the twelve apostles.

The church has had dozens of renovations over the years. The church has many detailed furnishings, including a Baroque Louis XVI-style pulpit that dates to 1779. The church's organ was built in 1992 using the organ case from 1780.

St. John's main feature is its red 79-meter (259 feet) tall tower built in the 15th century after the previous tower collapsed. The tower includes a wooden belfry and a 1687 bell. A small bell, the so-called gate bell, used to be rung daily to open and close the city gates, but sadly it was stolen in 1943 by the German occupiers.

Visitors can climb the tower's 218 narrow steps to the belfry's viewing platform for a stunning view of the city.