LEIDEN

Click on a photo to enlarge............
The crossed keys, the Leiden coat-of-arms, are omnipresent in the city, like here, on the covered Koornbrug (Corn bridge)
...or here, above the little Penshal gate in Breestraat
A room with a view on Breestraat, a dream of many
A well-known project is the painting of poems in different languages on the façades of Leiden. This is a Czech poem of J.H. Krchovskı, on the corner of Bleek and Ververstraat
If you happen to be a girl, and you have to answer a call of nature, you have a problem here...
(On the wall is written: Girls' lavatories)
The catholic Hartebrug Church, known in Leiden as the Coeli Church. Not every Leidener understands Latin, of course
In the courtyard of the Samuel de Zee almshouses, one of many almshouse estates in Leiden
The former police station in Zonneveldstraat is an example of Amsterdam School architecture
In case it still isn't clear in which country Leiden is...
A bit complicated, but what we see here is a part of the Morspoort city gate and a part of the drawbridge across the Morssingel canal in front of it
We Leideners are quite amicable really, which you maybe wouldn't say looking at the militant lion at the entrance to the Burcht city castle
The owl is an indication: behind it is a school. Bonaventura College, to be precise.
The little tower of Vreewijk house, originally a manor outside of the town walls
The subtropics in Leiden? Yes indeed! In the new winter garden of the old Hortus Botanicus of the university
The winter garden is a huge greenhouse, with a high footbridge which offers a view of the palm trees. You reach it via this spiral staircase
Oops, how am I going to get my bike back?
The old Stadsmolen (City mill), built in 1852 (rebuilt in 1978) to pump the dirty water out of the city canals. The mill is standing on the bank of the Slaaghsloot, once popularly known, and with good reason, as the "Stinksloot" ("Stinking ditch"). And no, the mill has not been turned into an electric power station lately
Another mural poem, this time by the Russian poet Aleksandr Blok
A tree in the grand park Plantsoen, laid out on the site of the old city walls
This little polder mill used to keep things dry for both farmer and cows. Nowadays it is standing in the middle of a residential area, the Morskwartier
A residential building, with a Chinese restaurant on street level. Takeaway entrance in the alley. To keep residents from stewing in the cooking fumes, the exhaust system has been kept anything but modest. That pipe goes all the way up against the building
Urban development from the 'sixties. The carillon is meant to enhance the atmosphere at least a bit. Nowadays we have somewhat different opinions on "pleasant housing"
This mural poem, by the Russian poet Anna Achmatova, started a row. The background colour was purple, and the neighbours across the street were not amused. The poem had to go. In the end, the poem returned, but the purple background didn't. The first item is covered by the freedom of speech (as guaranteed by the Constitution). The second item should have been put before the Welstandscommissie (municipal design commission). And they agreed the purple was clashing with the surroundings. Exit purple, but Anna could stay.
More information (in Dutch) about the brouhaha caused by this poem you can find on the site of Muurgedichten (Mural poems)
Standing on top of the Burcht city castle, in the very centre of town, you are looking towards the medieval church Hooglandse Kerk. The chimneys in the forefront belong to the former Herenlogement (city inn), nowadays housing the municipal library
A deep blue sky, a white façade, enough reason to take out the old orange filter again. "In den Vergulden Turk" ("The Gilded Turk") is on Breestraat, and part of the big Vroom & Dreesmann department store
Still using the orange filter, still on Breestraat: the top of the Stadsgehoorzaal (City concert hall)
Ships used to moor on Zijlsingel canal at the flour factory. Nowadays the buildings are empty and decay rapidly. For years now plans are made for the reuse of the complex, but nothing comes of it. The only thing that happens is that it gets steadily more broken...
An ugly head on a shopfront on Hartesteeg. Well, actually it is very nice, but its expression is so ugly! Just to think that nowadays, there is a snack bar in this building!
The seventeenth century almshouse estate Joost Frans van der Lindenpoort
The Coeli church is winking at us
The tower of the city hall, as seen from the top of the Burcht hill
In December, the quays along the Nieuwe Rijn (New Rhine, a branch of the Old Rhine river) are festively illuminated. The Koornbrug (Corn bridge) can be seen in the background
Evening has fallen over Rapenburg canal
The Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) in the west of the city
In the eastern part of Leiden, the Old Rhine is spanned by the Leiderdorpse brug (Leiderdorp bridge). The name already gives it away: across the bridge lies Leiderdorp. But hardly anyone in either Leiden or Leiderdorp has ever heard of the Leiderdorpse brug: they all know it as the Stierenbrug (Bull's bridge). The reason for this is this sculpture in the middle of the bridge
There are also colour photographs of Leiden!
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