Sint Jan - 's-Hertogenbosch

You might recall that I looked at the impressive recreation in Second Life of the Koelner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), not so long ago. Well I have now encountered a church building on an even grander scale - a recreation of St Jan's Cathedral 's-Hertogenbosch. The city of 's-Hertogenbosch ("in the Duke's Woods"), mercifully abbreviated to Den Bosch, is the capital of North Brabant, and its cathedral, started sometime around 1220, is considered one of the most attractive in the Netherlands*. The city was also the birthplace of painter Hieronymus Bosch.

The Second Life version of the cathedral can be found on the Den Bosch sim. However, you may need to approach it by flying in from the adjacent BrabantStad sim, as there are restrictions on access below a certain altitude. Here are some snaps to give you the flavour of the place:



The build is simply enormous. In fact, it barely manages to fit on its sim, which could make for frustrations as it is almost impossible to circumnavigate, and definitely impossible to get a complete view from any position other than due East (in Brabantstad). There is still a lot of work to be done on the building, so it would not be fair to pass an opinion - though I have to say, despite the care and attention being lavished on it, this is not in the same league as Koelner Dom as far as I am concerned. This is not reflection on the builder. but on the original building itself.

It looks like a small cluster of Dutch Brabant sims may build up around this spot - there are 2 already - indicative of another region joining Second Life.

* Depending on your point of view, this claim may not mean much!