Oh, this amazing gentleman (sorry, "Herr") Leiden, who was fortunate enough to nurse outstanding painters and entertain Nobel laureates .Today, it deserves the attention of millions of tourists, and, I must say, is not unfair .Having behind his shoulders a rich past, Leiden is ready to share his story with everyone who steps on his land .The famous university, numerous museums, beautiful theaters, ancient buildings, canals and embankments - they are all ready to tell the guests without a break for lunch about the amazing life of the old Leiden and that once inspired the masters of art to create amazing masterpieces .
Leiden is a very Dutch town: there are a lot of canals into which houses with tiled roofs are stuck, interspersed with Gothic cathedrals and old windmills. First of all, Leiden became famous due to one of the oldest universities in Europe, which was founded already in 1575. Secondly, such world-famous artists as Luka Leidensky, Jan Sten and Rembrandt. Nevertheless, the most interesting museums in Leiden are not artistic, but natural science.
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How to get here
The easiest way to get to Leiden by train. From The Hague the journey will take only 10-15 minutes, from the airport Schiphol - 20 minutes. To Amsterdam the longest - as much as 30-40 minutes. The fare is low: from 3-4 to 10-12 EUR depending on the distance.
Almost all trains stop at Leiden Centraal Station, which is 500 m northwest of the Old Center, and 1 km from the Town Hall. The station Leiden Lammenschans (very small, standing on the line to Utrecht) is located at the opposite end of the city, also 1 km from the Town Hall.
To get from the station to the center you can also on any bus, following the Breestraat stop. The ticket costs 1 EUR, valid for one hour. In general, the city is very compact, therefore it is better to walk there on foot: in 20 minutes it can be safely passed from one end to the other. But you can rent a bicycle, there is a bike shop at the station where you give this popular rental vehicle in Holland.
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Climate Leiden
Partly cloudy, light rain +8 ° С in the afternoon +8 ° C at night ° С water |
Cloudy, rain +5 ° С in the afternoon +4 ° C at night ° С water |
Partly cloudy, light rain +6 ° C in the afternoon +4 ° C at night ° С water |
| Leyden weather forecast for 10 days | ||
| Average monthly temperature, ° C | ||||||||||||
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | sen | Oct | but I | Dec | |
| in the afternoon | +5 | +4 | +7 | +10 | +14 | +16 | +18 | +18 | +17 | +13 | +9 | +6 |
| at night | +1@@ | +1@@ | +3 | +5 | +9 | +12 | +15 | +15 | +13 | +10 | +6 | +3 |
| water | +7 | +6 | +6 | +8 | +11 | +14 | +16 | +18 | +17 | +14 | +11 | +8 |
Kitchen and restaurants in Leiden
It is necessary to try the herring of local preparation. The most popular way to taste it is to buy a roll with herring on the fish stalls (wisbankenas) in the market area, where you can add a little onions or pickled cucumber (~ 2-2, 5 EUR).
The second obligatory dish is Leiden cheese. A sort of semi-solid Dutch cheese, which is made from separated cow's milk. Adding caraway, cloves and other seasonings gives the cheese a characteristic pungent taste.
Entertainment, excursions and attractions of Leiden
In 1992, the project "Poems and walls" was launched in Leiden on the initiative of the foundation TEGEN-BEELD. The first poem that appeared on the city wall was the work of Marina Tsvetaeva. Today the works of poets from around the world decorate the walls of Leiden, as if suggesting that the beauty of Leiden must be compared with the beauty of the best poetry.
As for the choice of the excursion route for Leiden, here, perhaps, there is only one subtlety: you need to immediately decide whether you are ready to walk or not. If you are ready - go to all four sides, you everywhere will be happy. If you do not really want to travel on your own two, then choose a bicycle or water transport. And we propose to make a combined pedestrian walk.
Sightseeing tour of Leiden: start
So, let's say you got off the train at the Central railway station (Leiden Centraal). Immediately begin to get acquainted with the sights of Leiden. Remember, in itself, Leiden deserves the title of a place of attraction, as Brodsky put it, "the most important city" of the Netherlands. In Leiden everything is fine: every street, every bridge, every yard.
Moving to the promenade of the Rapenburg canal, on the right bank of which are the numerous buildings of the university, we have a danger of being stuck in the museums that will meet us on the road. Here is the first stop on Steenstraat Street, house 1. It is the oldest, opened about two centuries ago, the National Museum of Ethnology (Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde). If we do not resist the temptation to enter the museum, then we are doomed to walk around the countries and continents of the past millennia. By the way, Europe is not represented in the museum.
We stand with our backs to the museum. If we go left on 2e Binnenvestgracht, then we quickly get to the famous windmill (Stedelijk Molenmuseum de Valk), built in the distant 1743. However, we are moving straight down Steenstraat Street and find ourselves on the Main Square of Beestenmarkt.
However, someone did not go to the square, but turned right in front of her and again fell for the bait of the museum Leyden. The Lakenhal City Museum, or the Museum de Lakenhal at Oude Singel, 28-32 offers to get to know Leiden through the prism of art. Rembrandt, Jan van Goyen, Gerard Daw, Jan Sten are on display at the museum. The pearl of Lakenhal is the triptych "The Judgment of God" written by the brush of Lucas van Leiden.
Area Bestenmarkt
After all, let's go back to the Bestenmarkt square and walk to its southern point, from which the Haarlemmerstraat shopping street departs .However, in order to get to it, you must first pass along the bridge Blauwpoortsbrug .Walking along the Harlemestrat, turn left onto Sionsteeg and go to the Lange Sint Agnietenstraat, after which several houses to the right, we will stumble upon the famous museum of Boharave (Boerhaave) .The exposition of this museum tells visitors about the history of the development of sciences and, mainly, medicine .By the way, the largest exhibit of the museum is part of the building, which served in the 17th century as a popular then anatomical theater .Also in the Museum of Burkhava are exhibited the microscope of Anthony van Leeuwenhoek and the first pendulum clock created by Christian Huygens .
Within the walls of the LUMC hospital is another remarkable museum called Naturalis. A piece of the museum is a building, connected by a glass transition, along which huge rhinos roam. It is worth noting that this museum is especially liked by small visitors.
Channels and bridges
And so we got to the Rapenburg Canal, it's time to get on the boat and make a small tour of the water ring .On the banks of the canal are houses built by the Leyden nobility in the 17th century .Stop, we almost rushed past the State Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Ondheden, or RMO), which is on our right (Rapenburg, 28) .And it is not surprising, because the museum does not stand out from the main composition of the embankment .However, if we are lucky enough to be inside, we will be 100% impressed to the fingertips, because the tour will be guided by "guides from the past" .
Returning from a small trip through the picturesque canal to the bridge Croenhazenbrug, or the Green Bunny (according to legend, once the students nicknamed one famous prostitute), we will walk along the ancient cobbled street Breestrat (Breestrat), which will take us to the 16th century town hall with a clock . The famous town hall is a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture.
So, to the left of the town hall, where the channel Nieuwe Rijn originates, was the territory of the barbarians, today on Wednesdays and Saturdays in this place the market works .By the way, you can buy something on the bridge of Koornburg opposite Krakow, the trade is held there permanently .By the way, the Leiden people compare Cornburg with the Venetian Rialto .If we cross the canal along Kornburg and go a little further along the narrow street Burgsteeg, then we go to the oldest landmark of Leiden, to the construction of the 9th century - the fortress with the tower Burcht van Leiden, located on the hill .The age of the tower tells the age-old oak growing inside it .Surprisingly, the tower is not visible from the city, but from it all Leiden is visible, as in the palm of your hand .
St. Peter's Church and the University
If we pass from the town hall to the right, then we will see the Church of St. Peter (Sint Pieterskerk), built in the Gothic style. Opposite the church we will see a building with shutters painted in red and white colors - this is the former Gravensteen prison, today the law department of the University of Leiden is located there. By the way, the small cozy square in front of the law-breaker used to be the place of execution. The civilized part of the city included the Rapenburg Canal, and, of course, Leiden University located on its right bank.
The University was presented to Leiden Wilhelm I of Orange as a token of gratitude for the courage of his people, who stubbornly sustained in the 1575th year the siege by the Spaniards. By the way, the residents of Leiden had a choice, they could forever be freed from taxes, but preferred to have a wonderful university in their native city.
Let's go to the university buildings closer: students and professors scurry around .What are they talking about? You can listen to their conversations in the Camino Real bar, where listeners and teachers sip beer after numerous lectures .Just outside the corner of the Camino Real bar, there is a green oasis of the Old Leiden - the botanical garden of Hortus Botanicus .Did the mathematician Rene Descartes, the physicist Peter van Müschenbrook, the lawyer Hugo Grotsky, the great Rembrandt, and the landscape painter Jan van Goyen, and even Einstein himself once teaching at the university, once walked around the Leiden alma mater ...
By the way, walking along Leiden, we have often seen so-called "hofs" (patios). This is built by rich people almshouses, in the city there are 35.
The end of the tour, or continued ...
Perhaps, on this our excursion comes to an end. However, tourists interested in science can visit the Leiden Observatory and the University Library. Theaters can go to Imperium or De x. Lovers of museums (except those who have not yet knocked down 8 years) can stroll through the human body in the most popular Dutch museum Corpus. By the way, there are audio guides in Russian. But club worms are a direct way to local dance clubs Entre-nous, Niels Rijnegom or Doesbrug.
In addition, every tourist is obliged to see for themselves the Leiden Gate, the Renaissance building of the Administration of the Rhine Lands, the building of the Physics Library and the home of the Pilgrim Fathers, and visit the Wismarkt fish market to taste the most delicious Dutch herrings. Photos Leiden (13)