Open Monumentendagen

On September 11-12, Leiden held Open Monumentendagen. This meant that many monuments throughout the city, that are not typically open to the public, were open. This year they focused on buildings of the 19th century. Many of the buildings dated from before the 19th century but tied into that century in some way.

We were fortunate to be able to explore some buildings on Saturday. Pieterskerk, City Hall and De Burcht (Leiden's own little castle) were a few of the places on our list. Here are some various photos from our day. 

Hope you enjoy.

Love,

-The Clog Crew

 City Council meeting room in City Hall.

Some of the wood inlay in City Hall. The picture does not do it justice, they had many wood inlay pictures on the wall that were very exquisite, including a map of Leiden.

 An old residence that has been converted to an Art Gallery.

 An ornate bible inside a church on Haarlemmerstraat

 A beautiful organ inside the same church. The inside of this church actually looks quite different than it once did. Pictures we saw of the original building showed that there used to be many colorful renditions of different scripture moments. Since then, they have been painted over with a more simple, creamy white.

Inside De Burcht.

The gorgeous view from the top of De Burcht. The church in the photo is Hooglandse Kerk.

Family photo at the top of De Burcht with Hooglandse Kerk in the background.

One of the city gates of Leiden.

Some vintage buttons at an antique store we passed on the way to our next stop.

Throughout Leiden there are verses of poetry written on the walls in many different languages.

Jason and Atticus heading down a narrow staircase at an old building that has been turned into an art school. There were so many incredible, original features.

Colorful art supplies.

Second story window in the art school.

Jason and Atticus in the sculpture room of the art school.

One of the larger staircases in the art school.

A lovely vintage car that we passed on the way to the next stop.

The section of Pieterskerk that explains about the pilgrims. When the pilgrims left England, the people of Leiden welcomed them to live in their city. They lived in Leiden for a time before they decided that they would like to go to America.