In Netherlands, ancient church converted to house padel court

The Church of Saint Joseph was converted into an indoor sports hall. Photo: Sport Knowhow XL

In October 2025, it became known that in the Dutch city of Arnhem, the ancient Church of Saint Joseph was converted into an indoor sports hall for playing padel – a type of tennis rapidly gaining popularity in Europe. This was reported by the Dutch resource Sport Knowhow XL.

The new project named Holy Padel sparked a mixed reaction among local residents. Many considered the renaming and the use of the church as a court to be sacrilegious.

The initiator of the project was entrepreneur Roland Verheij, who had previously converted another church into a crossfit hall. According to him, the building had been vacant for almost twenty years, and he decided to "breathe new life into it".

However, critics believe that under the guise of sports, the commercialization of sacred space is taking place. On social media, users write that "the church has been turned into a sports attraction", and the name Holy Padel is called "a mockery of faith".

On the official website holypadel.nl, the project creators advertise a "unique experience of playing padel in a historic church" and offer to rent a court online. The organizers emphasize that the building "has retained the atmosphere of the past", although only the walls remain from its former purpose.

Despite statements about "creative reimagining of space", the story of Holy Padel has once again opened a discussion in the Netherlands about the boundaries of what is permissible when using former churches. Many believe that turning churches into bars, restaurants, and sports venues is a sign of Europe's spiritual crisis.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that in the occupied part of Cyprus, an ancient church was turned into a café-bar.

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