Inside the medieval Maastricht church that became a bookstore

The years between worship and books

The church had already lived several secular lives before the first books went on sale. Visit Maastricht describes its use as a municipal warehouse holding pipes, carts and barrels, followed by activities ranging from music rehearsals and exhibitions to bicycle storage. These uses place the bookshop at the end of a much longer story of adaptation. ²

The business has changed, too. The shop originally traded as Selexyz Dominicanen, later became part of Polare, and restarted in March 2014 after Polare’s bankruptcy. It has operated independently under the Boekhandel Dominicanen name since that restart. ¹

Building upward inside the nave

Fitting a substantial bookshop into the church called for more than lining the walls with shelves. Merkx + Girod’s interior uses a tall, walk-in steel bookcase placed off-center. Its stacked levels provide additional space for books while keeping the height of the Gothic interior visible around it. ¹

The restoration project record describes two bookcases connected by stairs and galleries, with a lift incorporated into the structure. New construction was introduced as separate elements to make the intervention reversible. That approach allowed the building’s historic shell to remain largely unchanged while accommodating a demanding new use. ³

Restoration beyond the shelves

The conversion also involved conserving the church’s wall and vault paintings. The project account emphasizes a restrained restoration, with attention to stabilizing and restoring those surfaces. Looking upward is therefore part of understanding the project: the old interior remained an essential part of the space, rather than being hidden behind a conventional shop fit-out. ³

A place to linger

Coffeelovers occupies the former choir. The bookshop also uses that area for signings, debates, lectures, interviews and musical performances. Those everyday activities give visitors reasons to stay after choosing a book. ¹

The photographs accompanying this article are archival. The café view was taken in April 2015; the exterior was uploaded to Panoramio in September 2015, with its exact capture date unverified. They illustrate an earlier stage of the bookshop’s life. ^{4 5}