16. The garden of the Prinsenhofwith statue of Willem de
Zwijger
17. Molen de Roos (windmill)
18. Water tower
19. Plantagegeer Park
20. Delft in spring
21. Delft in winter
22. Delft is a city and municipality in the province of Zuid
Holland (South Holland) close toRotterdam and Den Haag (The Hague).
Around 100,000 people live in Delft. The cityreceived its city
rights in the 13th century.The city is situated on the Schie, which
flows into the Meuse at Delfshaven. The townwas almost totally
destroyed by fire in 1536, and in 1654 it was seriously damaged
bythe explosion of a powder-magazine; but it still possesses
numerous interestingbuildings of the 16th century, especially at
the Wynhaven and in the Koornmarkt andVoorstraat.Delft is primarily
known for its typically Dutch town centre (with canals), also for
thepainter Vermeer, Delft Blue pottery (Delftware), the Delft
University of Technology, andits association with the Dutch royal
family, the House of Orange-Nassau.The hotel De Mol of the 15th
century is one of the oldest buildings in Delft.Stadhuis (City
Hall)This early 17th century building (1618) was built by Hendrick
de Keyser (who made themausoleum of William the Silent). Very
typical for the buildings of the early DutchRepublic, the
decoration features ferocious lions heads. The City Hall
incorporates thestone tower of an earlier medieval version of the
city hall destroyed by fire in 1618.
23. Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)Originally built between 1383 and
1510. However, several disasters that took place inthe city of
Delft (town fire in 1536 and the explosion of the gunpowder store
in 1645 )made restoration necessary. The present tower was only
added in 1872 by P.J.H. Cuyper.The most important feature of the
church is the imposing mausoleum of William ofOrange (called The
Silent). Hendrick de Keyser designed it in 1614. In the middle of
themonument stands the statue of William. In the crypt of the
church are the tombs ofseveral other members of the Dutch Royal
Family, the House of Orange-Nassau.Oude Kerk (Old Church)The church
dates originally from the 13th century, but was often redesigned
andredecorated. The richly decorated bell tower dates from the 14th
century. The GothicNorthern transept was added in the 16th century
by Antoon Keldermans, a famousarchitect from the southern
Netherlands (now Belgium). The choir stalls are remarkable.Inside
the church are numerous tomb stones, among which, the stones of the
painterJohannes Vermeer and Admiral Piet Heyn.Meisjeshuis building,
the old orphanage for girls, reopened in spring 2005
afterrestoration. It is now being used for a variety of purposes,
many of which ensure that alarge part of the building remains open
to the general public.
24. The Easten Gates were built in the beginning of the 15th
century and nowadays theyare the only city gates that left till our
time. Their towers are not so old: they wereoverbuilt in the 16th
century. The Eastern Gates consist of the gates built both onwater
and ground, which are connected with walls. Nowadays the gates are
used asdomicile and showroom.Delft University of Technology (Dutch:
Technische Universiteit Delft, also known as TUDelft, is the
largest and oldest Dutch public technical university. With eight
facultiesand numerous research institutes it hosts over 16,000
students (undergraduate andpostgraduate), more than 2,600
scientists(including more than 200 professors), over2,000 doctoral
students, and more than 2,000 people in the support and
managementstaff.The university was established on January 8, 1842
by King William II of theNetherlands as a Royal Academy, with the
main purpose of training civil servants forthe Dutch East
Indies.
25. Prinsenhof (Princes Court)The Prinsenhof ("The Court of the
Prince") is an urban palace built in the 15th century as
amonastery. Later it served as a residence for William of Orange,
the Silent. It was here thatWilliam of Orange (the Silent) was
murdered in 1584 by Baltasar Geraerts, a fanaticalcatholic. The
murder was ordered by Philip II, the catholic king of Spain and
theNetherlands. The holes that were left in the walls by the
bullets that killed William are stillvisible. After the restoration
the Prisenhof serves as the National Museum. The museumcontains an
interesting collection of paintings of Delft, medieval sculptures,
portraits ofprominent figures of the Dutch Revolt and, of course,
delftware.The Water Tower. The tower was built in 1895 in
neo-renaissance style, after a design ofthe city council architect
M.A.C. Hartman. It contains a water reservoir of 600.000
litrewater. Since the 1st of February 2008 the Water tower of Delft
is open to the public. Thebeautiful monument is restyled into a
water shop, meeting place and viewpoint.
26. Armamentarium (Army museum).The massive brick building
rising up from the water at the "Korte Geer" street is
theArmamentarium. It used to be the military arsenal of the
provinces of Holland andWest Friesland. The function of the
building is symbolically shown by the beardedstatue of the god
Mars, the god of war. The arsenal was built in 1692. All the
militaryobjects on display (guns, uniforms, weapons) tell the
history of the Dutch army, fromthe Middle-Ages until
now.Oost-Indisch Huis (East India House)The letters VOC on this
renovated house (1631) at the Oude Delft n 39 is a reminderthat
Delft once was a seat of the Dutch East India Company.The Mill de
Roos was built in the 18th century and at those times it was
situated onthe city rampart.Images and text: InternetMusic: ABBA
The Winner Takes It All Adriana
