The Church of the Immaculate Conception, known from its location near a former bridge as the Hartebrug Kerk, was built in 1835-1837 not far from the medieval Vrouwekerk. The architect was Th. Molkenboer, who provided a classicistic design in a style now associated popularly with the Department of Waterways and therefore called the "Waterstaat" style. That department's draftsmen provided some Catholic church designs in the beginnings of the Catholic emancipation, which were typical of what was a common stylistic idiom found throughout Europe and America. Originally the tower was open, with the cupola supported by pillars. After attempts to buy the Vrouwekerk to restore it for Catholic use failed, a Catholic church similar to the Hartebrug Kerk, the Petruskerk, arose on the Langebrug, a couple of blocks from the medieval Pieterskerk. The Petruskerk burned in 1933, replaced by a fire department.