"Leiden, an under-rated destination in... " a Leiden Travel Page by beluga

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Basic facts and a little bit of history

Leiden, where i live, is a really nice pittoresque city. It's small as it has only 115,000 inhabitants. It's old, Leiden was awarded city rights in 1222 AD. Leiden's university is the oldest in the country was founded in 1575 and still exists today. Because of the many students, Leiden is pretty lively.

Leiden has a lot of history in store for you. Rembrandt van Rijn was born here. Also the Pilgrim fathers left here to cross the Atlantic to the promised land.

But here is a less pretty fact about Leiden. IQ-wise it's the lowest ranking city in the Netherlands (despite the university). Anyway, be so polite not to blame it on yours truly.

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City symbol

Already in the 14th century the 2 crossed keys appeared first as the city's symbol, where they remained until today.

If you walk around in Leiden and pay close attention, you will see this symbol in many gates and buildings.

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Koornbrug (Grain Bridge)

This bridge (the "Koornbrug", freely translated Grain Bridge) was built in 1642 and used to trade grain. It was the first bridge over the Rijn River at Leiden.

The markets held here and along both sides of the river on Wednesdays and Saturdays have been here continuously since the 13th century and are the oldest in Holland.

Be sure to check my city walk travelogues.