Extensions and expansions over the centuries led to its formal consecration in 1559 when the first bishop Nicolaas van Nieuwland was appointed.

Only 19 years later, after the Spanish occupation ended (they won the Siege of Haarlem) and Haarlem reverted to the Protestant House of Orange, the church was confiscated during the episode known as the Haarlemse noon and converted to Protestantism as part of the Protestant Reformation.

Drost had tried to set fire to the pipe organ and piano by throwing hot coals on top of it.

Around the church various low buildings have been built up against it, most notably the former fish market called De Vishal, which today is used for exhibiting modern art.

In 1630 the architect Salomon de Bray designed and built the consistory which still exists today.

The interior of the church has also changed little over the years, though the inner chapels suffered greatly during the Beeldenstorm, and many stained-glass windows have been lost to neglect.

Fortunately, the interior has been painted many times by local painters, most notably by Pieter Jansz Saenredam and the Berckheyde brothers.

Based on these paintings, work has been done to reconstruct the interior so various items such as rouwborden or "mourning shields" hang again today in their "proper" place.

Today the original Haarlem gift by Willem Thibaut still hangs in the Janskerk (Gouda) as designed.

When the famous Muller organ was installed, the glass on the west side of the church (now only known to us from the painting by the local painter Job Berckheyde) with the Wapenvermeerdering, was dismantled and bricked up.

The sketches for this glass have survived and are in the possession of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and were drawn by Barend van Orley.

A beautiful large blue window hanging on the northern side greets the visitor who enters through the double doors on the Groenmarkt.

[clarification needed] Until 1831 graves were allowed in the church, and many illustrious Haarlemmers through the centuries are buried there.

The two circus curiosities, the giant Daniel Cajanus with his midget friend Jan Paap, are buried there.

A local story is that under stone number 7 near the choir gate, there is a grave of a man who used to hit his mother as a child.

Today the Haarlem Grote Kerk tower is provided with a big bourdon bell from 1503 named Roeland, made by the Kampen bellfounder Geert van Wou.

In reality, they were a gift by Johannes Dircks, a bell-maker from Aalst to Nicolaas van Nieuwland, the bishop of Haarlem, in 1562.

Since Haarlem was no longer a vesting stad or walled city, the tradition of the bells continued, to commemorate the conquest of Damiette on August 25, 1219.