As more Dutch turn their backs on organized religion, vacant churches are avoiding the wrecking ball by hosting new congregations devoted to alternative pursuits, including gambling, nightclubbing and even motocross, Radio Netherlands reports.
As a result of what the national broadcaster calls "increasing secularization," an estimated 2,000 of the 13,000 "religious buildings" in the country are expected to become available for alternative use in the next few years.
The 16th-century Convent Church in Eindhoven now houses a casino, and other churches have become dance schools, party palaces, a supermarket -- and a motocross course.
For more: Motocross, nightclubs revive closed churches in Netherlands
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