Haarlem’s oldest church originally belonged to a congregation of Beguines from its construction in 1262 until 1586 when the city council handed it over to French speaking Protestants. At that time, the southern Netherlands (roughly equivalent to present day Belgium) were firmly controlled by Catholic Spain, which caused a large migration of Protestant refugees to the north. Many of them travelled to Haarlem in search of the city’s renowned religious tolerance and the Walloon Church initially held services in French for these Walloon and French refugees. Even today church services are still held in French and twice a month its doors are open to French-speaking parishioners. On other days, the church can only be admired from outside.