The origins of the oldest church in Delft lead back to the dark beginning of the Middle Ages. Around 1050 there was probably already a tuff stone church of about 12 by 30 meters in the settlement along the 'Delf'. Around 1240, the official Bartholomeus van der Made took the initiative to expand the church with two side aisles and a choir. But when Count William II grants the industrious city of Delft city rights in 1246, that is regarded as the official 'birth year' of the Oude Kerk. At that time the church is still named after Saint Bartholomew, the patron saint of the founder. In the centuries that followed, the place of worship evolved into an impressive Gothic basilica. But still the Oude Kerk is breathing something of the atmosphere of the Middle Ages.

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