| Page Views: 2,612 Last Visit to Leiden: December, 2005 | Leiden, where Rembrandt was born in 1606 by tompt - last update: Jan 4, 2006 |
Leiden is a much underrated city in the Netherlands. We live closeby, but never did we really discover the secrets of Leiden. Untill december 2005, a group of VTers came to our neighbourhoood and we decided on a citywalk in Leiden. Much to our surprise it was a day to remember, and a certain must do again!
Leiden is an old city, 300 years BC the first settlers (farmers) came to the banks of the Rhine here. The Roman Empire had its northern border around here. They left the area around 200 AD and Leiden was forgotten untill around 900 AD. A fortress was built on the banks of the old Rhine. The Rhine was silted up and the river found another way to the sea. The river that remained was called Old Rhine.The fortress and the city became important, the Counts of Holland came to live here. In 1266 Leiden got city rights, and became more important after the first university of the Netherlands was built here in 1581.
In the Golden Ages Leiden was the mosty important city around. But today Leiden is forgotten. And Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht steaal the spotlight. This is absolutely not doing justice to Leiden.
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| A statue of the famous painter Rembrandt |
Leiden is also the city where many famous dutch where born. The painters: Gerrit Dou, Jan Steen, Jan van Goyen, Lucas van Leyden and ofcourse the most famous: Rembrandt van Rijn in 1606.
The city also produced many famous scientists. Albert Einstein was a professor at its University. The Royal Dutch Family also studied in Leiden.
Because it is 400 years since Rembrandt was born here, there are many festivities in his honor in 2006. The first expositions started in december 2005. There is a special city walk around the places he lived, studied and painted. The booklet of the citywalk is availlable at the VVV (touristinfo).
Discover the inner city of Leiden, which layout didn't cvhange much since Rembrandt walked around here. |
| The almshouses of Eva van Hoogeveen |
Other interesting city walks are:
- The Leiden Loop, a roundtrip along the most important monuments of Leiden. It took us about 3 hours to complete it, but then we had 11 people taking pictures.......
- A walk along the Almshouses of Leiden. Almshouses (17th-18th century) are houses built by rich people for the poor. They hoped to ensure their place in heaven that way.
A booklet of both walks is availlable at the VVV (Touristinfo), Stationsweg 2D.
More info about Leiden at the website of the touristinfo:
http://www.hollandrijnland.nl/ |
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tompt's Leiden Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 25 - Photos: 81 | | | Restaurants
Tips: 1 - Photos: 5 | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips
Tips: 4 - Photos: 10 |
 tompt's Leiden Travelogues | | | |
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 Comments for tompt about Leiden | | | | |
nepalgoods Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:13 UTC
Wow! I wqould love to do the citywalk myself one day... | iandsmith Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:51 UTC
Excellent work, 5 star stuff, thank you for sharing. Wish I had read these BEFORE I went there! | garridogal Sun Jan 8, 2006 15:59 UTC
Wow, this page really has grown. Good work - very enjoyable! |
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