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Bruges
Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact. There are many beautiful medieval buildings, including the Church of Our Lady, whose brick spire - at 122m - is Europe's highest brick tower/building.Bruges is also famous for its 13th-century Belfry, housing a municipal Carillon comprising 47 bells. The city still employs a full-time bell ringer, Aimé Lombaért, who puts on regular free concerts.
Other famous buildings in Bruges include the Beguinage, the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the modern Concert Building and the Old St-John's Hospital. The historic centre of Bruges is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
Bruges also has a very fine collection of medieval and early modern art, including the world-famous collection of Flemish Primitives. Various masters, such as Hans Memling and Jan van Eyck, lived and worked in Bruges. The relic of the Holy Blood, which was brought to the city during the First Crusade, is paraded every year through the streets of the city. More than 1,600 inhabitants take part in this mile-long religious procession, many dressed as medieval knights or crusaders. In the Church of Our Lady. you can admire the sculpture of Madonna and Child, which can be seen in the transept, is believed to be Michelangelo's only sculpture to have left Italy within his lifetime.
Several beers are named after Bruges, such as Brugse Tripel, Brugs Blond, Brugs Witbier and Straffe Hendrik. However, only Brugse Zot is brewed in the city itself in the Halve Maan Brewery.
Bruges is home to the College of Europe, a prestigious institution of postgraduate studies in European Economics, Law and Politics.
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Antwerp
In the 16th century, Antwerp was noted for the wealth of its citizens, the houses of these wealthy merchants and manufacturers have been preserved throughout the city. The city also suffered considerable war damage by V-bombs, and in recent years other noteworthy buildings were demolished for new developments.The Antwerp Zoo was founded in 1843, and is home to more than 4,000 animals Central Station is a railway station designed by Louis Delacenserie that was completed in 1905. It has two monumental neo-baroque facades, a large metal and glass dome (60m/197ft) and a gilt and marble interior Cathedral of Our Lady. This church was begun in the 14th century and finished in 1518. The church has three works by Rubens.
The church, named for St James, is more ornate than the cathedral. It contains the tomb of Rubens.
The church of St Paul, has a beautiful baroque interior. It is a few hundred yards north of the Grote Markt.
The Plantin-Moretus Museum preserves the house of the printer Christoffel Plantijn and his successor Jan Moretus.
The Boerentoren (Farmers' Tower) or KBC Tower, a 26-storey building built in 1932, is the oldest skyscraper in Europe.
The Royal Museum for Fine Arts close to the southern quays has a collection of old masters (Rubens, Van Dyck, Titian) and the leading Dutch masters.
The law courts, designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership, Arup and VK Studio, and opened by King Albert in April 2006. This building is the antithesis of the heavy, dark court building designed by Joseph Poelaert that dominates the skyline of Brussels.
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Brussels
Mention was already made of Brussels around 695. In the 12th century the small town became an important stop on the trade route from Bruges and Ghent to Cologne. In 1695 Brussels was attacked by general Villeroy of King Louis XIV of France. A bombardment destroyed the city’s heart: more than 4,000 houses were set on fire, including the medieval buildings on Grand Place. In 1830, the Belgian revolution took place in Brussels. On July 21, 1831, Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, ascended the throne, undertaking the destruction of the city walls and the construction of many buildings. Under Leopold II, the city underwent many more changes.
Places to see are:
Grand Place The Grand-Place is Brussels’ top tourist attraction justified by the Gothic magnificence of the Town Hall and the Baroque exuberance of the late seventeenth-century guildhouses with the sculptures of Peter van Dievoet surrounding the square. The Royal Palace of Laeken and the Royal Palace of Belgium.
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium combining four interconnected sections of old masters and modern art collections. Together they make up Belgium’s most complete collection of fine art with works by, amongst many, Pieter Bruegel, Rubens, Paul Delvaux and René Magritte.On the site of the Heizel are the Atomium, one of the symbols of Belgium, a remnant of the 1958 World exposition in Brussels, and Mini-Europe, a park which hosts miniature models of famous European buildings. Manneken Pis: a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a little boy urinating into the fountain’s basin.
Several churches, such as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Koekelberg, and the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral.
The Jubilee Arch
La Bourse, the location of the stock market Euronext in Belgium.
La Monnaie, an opera house. Horta house
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Delta Works
The Delta Works are a number of constructions that were built between 1950 and 1997 in the southwest of the Netherlands to protect a large area of land from the sea. The works consist of dams, sluices, locks, dykes and storm surge barriers. The aim was to shorten the Dutch coastline and limit the amount of dikes that were to be heightened.The estuaries of the rivers Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt have been subject to many floodings over the centuries. After building the Afsluitdijk, the Dutch started studying the damming of the Rhine-Meuse Delta. Plans were developed for shortening the coastline and turning the estuary into freshwater lakes. By shortening the coastline less dykes would have to be reinforced.Due to indecision and the Second World War, these plans remained studies and little action was taken. In 1950 two small estuary mouths, the Brielse Gat near Brielle and the Botlek near Vlaardingen were dammed. After the North Sea flood of 1953, a commission was installed which had to come up with a plan to research the causes and seek measures to prevent such disasters in future. They revised some of the old plans and came up with the so called "Deltaplan". The works were finished after almost fifty years in 1997 with the completion of the Maeslandtkering and the Hartelkering. The Dutch government often cites the Delta Works project as the world's largest flood protection project. With over 10,250 miles of dikes (1,500 miles designated as primary dikes and 8,750 miles as secondary dikes) and 300 structures, the project is one of the most extensive engineering projects in the world.
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Delft
The city dates from the 13th century. It received its charter in 1246.
The association of the House of Orange with Delft began when William of Orange took up residence there in 1562. William was the leader at the time in the struggle against the Spanish, 'the Eighty Years' War. Delft was one of the leading cities of Holland and was equipped with the necessary city walls to serve as a headquarters. When William was shot to death in 1584 by Balthazar Gerards in the hall of the Prinsenhof, the family's traditional burial place in Breda was in the hands of the Spanish. He was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), starting a tradition for the House of Orange that has continued to the present day.
The city centre retains many old and historical buildings, and many streets have canals in the centre. Historical buildings include: * Oude Kerk (Old Church), * Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), * The Prinsenhof (Princes' Court), now a museum.
* The City Hall, * The Oostpoort (Eastern gate), built around 1400. This is the only remaining gate of the old city walls. *The Gemeenlandshuis or Huyterhuis, built in 1505, which houses the regional water authority Delfland since 1645.
Delft is well known for the Delft pottery ceramic products which were styled on the imported Chinese porcelan of the 17th century. The city had an early start in this area since it was a home port of the Dutch East India Company.The painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was born in Delft. Vermeer used Delft streets and home interiors as the subject or background of his paintings. Several other famous painters lived and worked in Delft at that time, such as Pieter de Hoogh, Carel Fabritius and Nicolaes Maes. They all were members of the Delft School. The Delft School is known for its images of domestic life, views of households, church interiors, courtyards, squares and the streets of Delft.
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The Hague
The Hague was originally a hamlet close to the count's castle built in the 13th century. The village was first recorded in a document dated 1370, but has never been granted a Charter. Charters entitled medieval villages to erect defence walls and dig moats to protect their citizens. It also gave villages certain privileges, including the right to administer justice. Attempts by The Hague to obtain a Charter were continuously thwarted, although noblemen in the Large Hall of the Count’s Castle administered justice. In 1811, The Hague was granted a 48-hour Charter by Napoleon, when he proclaimed The Hague 'Bonne Ville de l'Empire'. Passing through on his journey from Amsterdam to Paris he refused to stay in a village.
's-Gravenhage - which is the official name for The Hague and literally means 'the Count's hedge' - was never awarded city rights.
The Hague boasts many historical buildings. These include the Knight's Hall dating from the 13th century, the Mauritshuis Museum built by architect Jacob van Campen in 1644, monumental mansions from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, monuments to honour various monarchs and historical people who lived here, and magnificent Jugendstil and Art Nouveau buildings. Architect H.P. Berlage designed several eye-catching edifices, including the imposing Gemeentemuseum The Hague and Villa Henny. The Statenkwartier, Duinoord, Zeeheldenkwartier and the Archipelbuurt areas are examples of the characteristic architecture of this Royal City.
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Gouda
Gouda, which was granted city rights in 1272, is famous for its Gouda cheese, smoking pipes and its 15th century town hall. The Sint Janskerk has the most significant stained glass in the Netherlands. The town takes its name from the Van der Goude family, who built a fortified castle alongside the banks of the Gouwe River.
By 1225, a canal was linked to the Gouwe and its estuary was transformed into a harbor.Cheese has been traded for over 300 years in the Markt, which is also known for its world-famous City Hall. On Thursday morning cheese farmers from all over the district used to come to Gouda in their cheese brakes. In the nearby Tiendeweg the horses were unharnessed, after which the brake was pushed by hand to the Markt, where the farmer was assigned a place by the market superintendent and bargaining could take off. When a cheese trader approached a brake, the farmer removed his tarpaulin and started bargaining. After the lot was sold the brake left for the Kaaswaag for the cheese to be weighed. The trader paid the farmer according to the weighing slip he received. Most of the time payment was made in the beer house at the end of the market day. You can watch this every Thursday from late June till early September.
31 October 1667 was the date of the decision to build De Waag, which was commissioned to the famous architect Pieter Post.Trading goods supplied were weighed on the ground floor, after which they were taxed according to the weighing outcome. From 1850 onward only cheeses were admitted for weighing.
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Windmills
The windmill has always been very successful in our flat and windy country. They have been used for many different purposes: grinding wheat and spices, sawing wood, crushing oil from linseed and rape, making mustard and producing paper. In the open air museum of The Zaanse Schans we can still find some of these industrial windmills. In the Netherlands, the drainage system is an important matter, because half of the country is below sea level. In the low lands problems with water became more and more apparent in the 13th century. Large canals were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders. However, this method was sufficient only for a short period of time. The ground started to lower again because of its structure and the level of the river began to rise at the same time. An additional way of maintaining the level of the water in the polders was required. At this time a clever engineer changed the interior of a windmill in such a way that it could drain water out of lakes and once the lake was dry to maintain the water level. There are two important sites where you can admire these windmills: Kinderdijk and Schermerhorn. Today in the Netherlands there are only 1000 of the original 10.000 windmills remaining. They were made largely redundant with the invention of the steam engine. The Haarlemmermeer, was the first lake to be drained using steam power alone. Three steam engines, the Leeghwater, the Cruquius, and the Lynden, were built for the purpose. Pumpingcommenced in 1848, and within four years 800 million tons was discharged and the lake was dry.
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Enclosing Dike
The Afsluitdijk is a major dike in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and 1933 and running from Den Oever on Wieringen in North Holland province, to the village of Zurich in Friesland province, over a length of 32 km and a width of 90 m, at an initial height of 7.25 m above sea-level. It is a fundamental part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer.
Construction progressed better than expected; at three points along the line of the dike there were deeper underwater trenches where the tidal current was much stronger than elsewhere. These had been considered to be major obstacles to completing the dike, but all of them proved to be relatively straightforward. On May 28, 1932, two years earlier than initially thought, the Zuiderzee ceased to be. The IJsselmeer was born, even though it was still salty at the time.
The dike itself however was not finished yet as it still needed to be brought up to its required height and a road linking Friesland and North Holland also remained to be built. It would not be until September 25, 1933, that the Afsluitdijk was officially opened, with a monument marking the spot where the dike had been closed.
Beside the dam itself there was also the necessary construction of two complexes of shipping locks and discharge sluices at both ends of the dike. The complex at Den Oever includes the Stevin lock and three series of five sluices for discharging the IJsselmeer into the Wadden Sea; the other complex at Kornwerderzand is composed of the Lorentz locks and two series of five sluices, making a total of 25 discharge sluices. Periodically discharging the lake is necessary since it is continually fed by rivers and streams (most notably the IJssel river that gives its name to the lake) and polders draining their water into the IJsselmeer.
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Keukenhof
Where Keukenhof is situated now, was a hunting area in the 15th century. Herbs for the kitchen of the castle of Jacoba van Beieren were also collected here; hence the name Keukenhof.
The current park was a section of the sizeable estate of Slot Teylingen, with beautiful untamed bushes and dunes. After the decease of Jacoba van Beieren Keukenhof fell into the hands of rich merchant families. Baron and baroness Van Pallandt invited landscape architects J.D. and L.F. Zocher, designers of the Amsterdam Vondelpark, to make a design for the garden around the castle. This design, in the English landscape style, has always been the basis of Keukenhof. the 17th century, the Golden Age of Amsterdam, the Dutch began a period of overseas expansion and their sailing ships were trading all over the Far East.
At the moment the estate belongs to a Corporation. On the initiative of the Lisse mayor of that time and a number of leading flower bulb growers and exporters, an open air flower exhibition was organised here for the first time in 1949. This expanded to an annually recurring event that has always drawn great numbers of visitors from all over the world.
When do the bulbs bloom?
Flower bulbs are a product of nature. The temperature is a deciding factor there; with a cold spring it takes longer for the bulbs to bloom than with a warmer spring.
In 2009 the Keukenhof will be open from March 19th - May 21st.
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Edam
The City Hall
The entrance, with the heavy double doors and the surrounds of sand stone, are in Louis XIV style. The coat-of-arms of Edam stands above the doorway and the beautiful wooden tower gives it a light-hearted element.
The Dam
The Dam, incorporating lock gates, was built in 1544 on the orders of Emperor Charles V. After many years of disputes over the locks, they finally accepted responsibility for their upkeep in 1701 and, to mark this event, two coats of arms were placed in the quay side.
On the southern side of the Hoogheemraadschap and on the other side those of the then dike reeve (the officer in charge). After completion of the new sea locks in 1829, the Dam sluice became superfluous and the lock gates were removed.
Museum
On the other side of the Dam is Edam's oldest brick house, built in or around 1530 as a private house and furnished as museum in 1895. This step gable gets its late gothic character from the use of natural stone, the profile of the pinnacles and its asymmetry.
You can see inside the typical construction of this type of Dutch house i.e. a very heavy oak skeleton consisting of uprights, main beams supported by corbel blocks, or brackets, key pieces and smaller cross beams.
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Marken
It were the same monks that built Monnickendam, that built a dike around the island of Marken. After the monks had to leave the island in the fourteenth century, the dikeswere neglected.
The agriculture and cattle farming made way for fishing. In times, when the Marken population hunted whales, the island became very prosperous, due to the try-houses (whale-oil manufacturers).
At the end of the 19th century you could find 163 fishing boats, but when the Zuiderzee was dammed in, the people of Marken had to find an alternative source of income. The solutions was found in using the boats dor the transport of hay. The hay that came from Marken had the reputation of being the best for your cattle.
The lighthouse on Marken is called the White Horse. The light was generated by gas and the foghorn used compressed air. During long and severe winters, drift-ice would reach up to the lighthouse or even in through the windows.
Since 1957 Marken has beenconnected to the North Holland mainland by a dam, which has helped to make Marken less isolated. A few (18)women over sixty still wear their traditional costumes daily.
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Enkhuizen
Enkhuizen and the Zuiderzee museum
During the first half of the Eighty-Years-War the town of Enkhuizen was at its peak of economic growth due to the favourable location on the Zuiderzee and the enterprising drive of local merchants.
When Enkhuizen became one of the six locations of the East Indies Company the town expanded with houses and storage buildings.
The Saint Pancreas Church and the ‘Dromedaris’ are the two most obvious buildings in the old part of Enhuizen. The Dromedaris was built in 1540 as part of the fortifications and in 1649 two floors were added.
The Zuiderzee museum consists of an outdoor and an indoor museum.
The outdoor museum, located just behind the old part of Enhuizen, gives a picture of the Zuiderzee villages in times gone by. They show the sober living conditions of the hard working population.
The indoor museum provides information about fishing villages such as Volendam, Marken, Hindeloopen and Enkhuizen, the struggle against the water, the North sea fishery for herring and the Zuiderzee fishery and a large collection of wooden boats.
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Alkmaar
Alkmaar's cheese market is one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. The cheese market traditionally takes place every Friday morning between April and October. It is one of only four traditional Dutch cheese markets still in existence. The traditional fare of this cheese market are those cheeses made in the local area, as opposed to the well-known brands of Dutch cheeses, i.e. Edam cheese and Gouda cheese. It is not actually possible to buy cheese at the market itself, which is really only a demonstration of how this merchants' market operated in times gone by.
However, the show, which takes place in front of the medieval weighing house, is surrounded by many specialized stalls where it is possible to buy all kinds of cheese (and non-cheese) related products. The weighing house is home to the local tourist office and a cheese museum. The earliest mention of the name Alkmaar is in a 10th century document. As the village grew into a town, it was granted city rights in 1254. The oldest part of Alkmaar lies on an ancient sand bank that afforded some protection from the sea during medieval times. Even so, it is only a couple of metres above the surrounding region, which consists of some of the oldest polders in existence.
In 1573 the city successfully withstood a siege by Spanish forces under the leadership of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. Alkmaar was the first city in the Netherlands to be freed from the Spanish occupation. It was a turning point in the Eighty Years War and gave rise to the expression Bij Alkmaar begint de victorie ("Victory begins in Alkmaar"). The event is still celebrated every year in Alkmaar on October 8, the day the siege ended.
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Haarlem
The oldest mentioning of Haarlem dates from the 10th century. The city's population grew from 18,000 in 1573 to around 40,000 in 1622. Haarlem's linen became world famous and the city flourished, just like the rest of the country: the Golden Age had started.
Beer brewing was a very important industry in Haarlem. The majority of the beer it produced was consumed in Noord-Holland. In 1620 the city numbered in the vicinity of 100 breweries.
In the 1630s, Haarlem was (and still is) a major trading center for tulips, and it was the epicenter during tulip mania, when outrageous prices were paid for tulip bulbs. From the time that the Leiden-Haarlem canal Leidsevaart opened in 1656, it became popular to ride from Rotterdam to Amsterdam by passenger boat rather than coach. The towpath led these passengers through the bulb fields south of Haarlem.
The city is famous for its many hofjes: almshouses built around courtyards. These were mainly privately funded houses for elderly single women. Nowadays there are 19 hofjes in Haarlem; many open to the public on weekdays. Many hofjes are still owned by the original foundations, and are still mainly used for single (elderly) women.
The Grote Markt (central market square), with -among others- the City Hall, the Vleeshal, the Hoofdwacht and the Grote or Sint-Bavokerk; The Teylersmuseum (the oldest museum of the Netherlands); Frans Hals Museum; Windmill De Adriaan; The Amsterdamse Poort city gate and the art nouveau railway station of Haarlem. |
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Rotterdam
Settlement at the lower end of the fen stream Rotte dates from at least 900.A dam was built in the 1260s or 1270s to prevent high water and storm tides from flooding the land through the Rotte’s course. On June 7, 1340, Count Willem IV of Holland granted city rights to Rotterdam, which then had an approximate 2,000 inhabitants.
The port of Rotterdam slowly but steadily grew into a port of importance, becoming the seat of one of the six chambers of the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), or the Dutch East India Company.
The greatest spurt of growth, both in port activity and population, followed after the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg in 1872. The city and harbor started to expand on the South bank of the river. Delivering evidence of its rapid growth and success is the skyscraper in the French Chateau style, the White House, or Witte Huis, built in the American spirit of office buildings in 1898; its height is 45 m, it was at the time of completion the tallest office building in Europe.
On May 14, 1940, Rotterdam was bombed by the German Luftwaffe, on the last of five days of war in the Netherlands (except in the province of Zeeland). The heart of the city was almost completely destroyed. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the city was rebuilt. It remained quite windy and open until the city councils from the 1980s on began developing an active architectural policy. Daring and new styles of apartments, office buildings and recreation facilities resulted in a more 'livable' city center with a new skyline. In the 1990s, a new business center on the south bank of the river, the Kop van Zuid has been built. The City Hall survived the bombing campaign.
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Amsterdam
The history of the city dates back to 1275. It was then that a dam was built in the river Amstel, the present-day Dam square. During the 17th century, the Golden Age of Amsterdam, the Dutch began a period of overseas expansion and their sailing ships were trading all over the Far East. At the beginning of this century it was decided to built the now famous canals: Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht. Here we can see a lovely variety of gables of the merchant's houses, coach-houses and warehouses.
At the Dam square we find the Royal Palace that was built in 1648 by Jacob van Campen as the new Town Hall. In 1808 during the reign of Louis Bonaparte it became the Royal Palace. Next to the Palace stands the New Church which is now used for temporary exhibitions. The National Monument, built after the Second World War, symbolises the suffering during the war and has become a popular meeting place.
Not far from the Dam square is the Red Light District, where some beautiful monuments can be found like the Old Church, which is the oldest building in Amsterdam, the interesting museum of Our Lord in the Attic, where you can visit a secret chapel fitted out in the attics of three houses and see some nice examples of rich canal houses. From here you can get to the Nieuwmarkt, where the imposing fortified gateway (1488), flanked by towers and turrets was converted into a weigh-house in 1617. The top floor served as an anatomy theatre where surgeons offered public dissections, which can be seen on one of Rembrandt´s famous paintings: the Anatomic Lesson of Dr. Deighman.
And of course you can visit the famous Rijksmuseum (with many works of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals) or the Van Gogh Museum (with the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings) or one of the many other museums.
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