The Calvary Mount (Calvarieberg) was reportedly located on the highest part of the ‘Aaltense Es’ (a type of historical communal open field), near the present-day Berkenhove cemetery and the water tower. Historians suspect that in the Late Middle Ages, this spot formed the terminus of a Stations of the Cross featuring thirteen stone stations, which depicted the Passion of Christ.
A Calvary Mount, also known as a Mount of Calvary, is an artificial hill on which the crucifixion of Christ is depicted. The name refers to Golgotha (Calvaria = skull), the hill outside Jerusalem where, according to the Gospels, Jesus was crucified. Calvary Hills were common across large parts of Catholic Europe.
Stations of the Cross
Although the original location of the Aalten stations is unknown, historians believe that in the Late Middle Ages, the Stations of the Cross led upwards from the Oude Helenakerk (Old St Helen’s Church) across the es to Calvary Hill. One theory suggests that the first station stood near the Oude Helenakerk and that the remaining stations were positioned along the sloping path across the Aalten es. By walking from the church past the stations to Calvary Hill, Aalten believers could symbolically follow Jesus’s path to his execution.
The final station is thought to have been located near the current water tower, on one of the highest points in Aalten, which was also situated along the ancient trade route (volkerenweg) between Bocholt and Zutphen.
“den Berch van Calvarien”
A file from 1580–1581 has been preserved in the Gelders Archive in Arnhem: an inventory of the possessions of the Nazareth (Schaer) monastery near Bredevoort. Prior Johan van Vueren was commissioned by the Guelders authorities to survey the monastic lands. The possessions of Nazareth had been confiscated during the transition of Guelders to the Reformation. From then on, the revenues were used to fund the training of orthodox Protestant ministers and schoolmasters. On the Aalten Es, north of the village, lay a plot of land, about which Van Vueren noted:
“Master Sander ter Woert with his brother-in-law have (…) a piece of land situated in the Aalten Esche near the Berch van Calvarien, measuring 11 and a half schepel of sown land.”
Procession Park
In 2023, plans emerged to create a procession park at the beginning of the Barloseweg, featuring replicas of the Aalten Stations of the Cross and Bible-related vegetation. For the maintenance of this park, a water tap was already installed, which has since been named the ‘Calvariebron’ (Calvary Spring).
