| Page Views: 3,253 Last Visit to The Hague: - | The Hague by nighthawk - last update: Jan 5, 2004 |
So there was this meeting on January 3rd ... meeting was great ... fantastic to meet all of you guys finally ! well ... some of them I had met before ... but getting stuck in Amersfoort because the latest train back home left early .. no, that weren t part of the plan at all!!
Sigh....fortuanetely hubby was mad/kind enough to get me out of Amersfoort but pffff.. the cold... the snow ... we had to wait an hour till he finally got there and the roads back home were packed with snow ... brrr .. but we r back home safe so .. :-)
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The unique thing of The Hague is, that is never was a city surrounded by walls and it never had canals dividing the city into parts. Because it was situated on the border of sandy soil and polder land it could develop into a residence, which, with in the architectural style so many echo's of what could be seen in royal cities and count residences throughout Europe, distinghuised itself by an European caracteristic.<BR>The true nature of a Dutch man always shows though because of the thrifty way of building.<BR>In official papers the city is called <strong>'s-Gravenhage</strong>, a name coming from Des Graven Hage (The Counts Lane). People from all over the world give it their own translation: The Hague, La Haye, Hag, La Haya, Haag, L'Aia. It could not be more European!<BR>
In <strong>Roman times</strong> people already lived here and the main roads as we know them now, were formed in those days. <strong>Scheveningen</strong>, the small fisherman's village, arose between the 4th and 6th century and is therefor older than The Hague.<BR>The foundation of The Hague must have been in 1248. It was then that the Count <strong>William II</strong> of Holland started building his palace. He choose this spot because it was in the midsth of a rich hunting ground and at the borders of a clear dune lake.<BR>Nowadays this lake can still be seen, it is the Hofvijver (CourtPond), remainder of the dune lake. Next to it, on the Binnenhof (Innercourt), a bit hidden between the houses of Parliament and behind the famous Ridderzaal (KnightsHall), one can still see this palace.<BR>An earl in those days was a travelling king, who reigned his country while moving from one to the other city. William's fathers never had had a palace, only fortresses in the Dutch cities. A whim of faith made William <strong>King of the Holy Catholic Empire</strong>, and thus he had to live up to this standard. Because of this The Hague, till then a small village, became residence and government city of the flat lands at the mouth of the Rhine. |
William's son, <strong>Floris V</strong>, got more powerful and richer by selling off his right to the Scottish throne. He built the Ridderzaal (KnightHall). The growing wealth of King and nation became visible in the stone buildings which arose instead of the wooden ones around the Buitenhof and the Plaats, nowadays still main courts in the city. One of the most important can still be seen: the <strong>Gevangenpoort</strong> (PrisonerGate) with the typical medieval form.<BR>Floris did not built everywhere, large parts stayed open. By not making a fortified town with walls and canals the inhabitants did not have to pay heavy taxes. In other cities, when the city became more and more powerful, building houses was expensive and that is why so many houses in eg Amsterdam are rather narrow and high. Inhabitants of Amsterdam had to pay for living in a fortified city. The Hague stayed open and thus his inhabitants were able to buy cheap a large piece of land. Only in times of war they were not defended.<BR>This is why The Hague is not like other Dutch cities.<BR>After prosperity comes decay. Up until the 16th century The Hague had been lucky, but when the low lands stood up against their lord of that time, <strong>Philip II of Spain</strong>, stark times came. Those who had the money fled with all they had to the fortified cities such as Amsterdam. Within the year grass grew in the streets and horses stood in the Great Church.<BR>Times changed again and so The Hague also had his Golden 17th Century. In these days more houses were built than ever before.<BR>An unusual high tower was built at the Sint Jacob's Church: look out point to sea and beach as well as tower. The best way to reach the city at that time was by beach, for swampy grounds were on the other side.<BR>When <strong>Napoleon</strong> visited The Hague he was very disappointed. Before visiting he had the city declared "Bonne Ville de l'Empire", for a emperor could not stay a night in a village. When he got there, he was quite in shock.<BR>After Napolean The Hague grew to the city it is now.<BR><BR><strong>November 3th</strong> I visited The Hague with a friend. We went there by train (3 hour drive!) and left early for we wanted to shop too.<BR>The Hague was new to me this time, I did not recognize much.<BR>For more on The Hague you could surf to "http://home-2.tiscali.nl/~aarde01/" : The pages about The Hague <BR>On Februari 2 2002 our king to be Alexander married his fiance Maxima in Amsterdam. |
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kerss Wed Nov 28, 2007 15:48 UTC
Sorry but u got 2 things mixed up. The passageway with an Italian feeling is shown on the picture. Babylon was a shopping mall situated next to the Central Railway Station but is knocked down. But keep up the good work. | RoyJava Fri May 5, 2006 19:46 UTC
A pity the meeting did not work out, hopefully a next one... at Pasar Malam The Hague? Greetzzz RoyJava | jamiesno Sun Dec 26, 2004 23:18 UTC
Hi there, great tips! Why do they call it "The Hage"? | saraheg77 Thu Dec 2, 2004 21:04 UTC
Hope you're having a wonderful birthday! Nice tips! Sarah =) |
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