The old Hanseatic city of Zwolle is located at two rivers, on a wetland site. This is a green city, in the past - an agrarian, surrounded by forests and meadows. However, Zwolle at one time was a major shopping center and can still be considered quite a lively place, although without the Moscow gloss. The old center of the medieval city is well preserved, the city museum has its own Van Gogh, and the organ of the main city church is known even outside the country.
How to get to Zwolle
By train from Amsterdam with transfer in about 1, 5 hours. Direct trains to Zwolle go from Groningen (1 hour), Arnhem (1 hour), Utrecht (55 minutes).
Search for tickets to the city of Amsterdam (the nearest airport is Zwolle)
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A bit of history
Archaeological excavations confirmed that these places were inhabited, at least, from the Bronze Age .Zwolle became officially the city in the 13th century, and joined the Hansa in the 15th .By the beginning of the 20th century it was already the largest shopping center (thanks to rivers); a large fish market worked here, and the second largest cattle fair was held after Rotterdam .During the Second World War, the city was occupied by the Germans and liberated by a single soldier, Canadian Leo Major .He was awarded the title of honorary resident of the city, and in his honor named one of the streets .
Entertainment, excursions and attractions Zwolle
Zwolle as a whole does not look like the big cities of the western part of the country, but it looks more like a big village: the Dutch from the west look down on the townspeople of Zwolle down on farmers .In addition, the urban planning of the 80's .The last century led to the fact that in the very center, near the Old Town, a few rather strange and even terrible buildings looked like .But in the western part of the city there are a few very attractive art nouveau mansions .On the city channel, where a very vintage barge is moored today, there are several excellent cafes and restaurants, and according to the number of events, especially musical ones, Zwolle is quite able to compete with larger cities .
The main city church of St. Michael was built in the 15th century on the main city square and is very famous .Firstly, the Gothic architecture (especially the main entrance) and the well-preserved monuments .And secondly - by the amazing organ of the world known to work Schnitter (1721 g .) .The body has four keyboards and four thousand pipes .In July and August, the church hosts magnificent organ concerts .Directly at the church there is a completely new sculpture depicting the archangel Michael .The statue was made of frosted green glass in 2010 .Herman Lamers and depicts the saint as an ordinary modern man - just with wings .
Near the church is the city's Town Hall, which was originally built in the middle of the 15th century. However, more modern extensions give it a somewhat strange look. In the square in front of the Town Hall there is a more classical city sculpture. This is bronze Adam, a copy of Rodin's masterpiece. And to the north of the church of St. Michael stands the picturesque Renaissance building of the former guard house of the 17th century.
- Look at the restaurant De Librije ("Library") - one of two in the country, with three Michelin stars. The restaurant occupies the premises of the former monastery library.
- To see the father and son with a bird is a pretty bronze sculpture of 1960 in the street Zeven Alleets.
- Find a large gilded pigeon, which sits on the roof of the museum since 1939
The Perechnitsa Tower is one of the highest and best known in the Netherlands .It was built in the middle of the 15th century as the bell tower of the Church of the Ascension of Our Lady and reaches 75 m in height .The funny name of the tower was probably due to the green "cap" at the top, well visible from different parts of the city .Another curious medieval tower - Mustard, built in 1571 g .Also noteworthy and beautiful are the Saxon gates of red stone, which more closely resemble a narrow tall castle with sharp turrets; through them you can go to Sassenstraat .The gates were built in the 15th century as part of the fortifications of the city, to the present day practically nonexistent .There are even windmills in Zwolle, dating back to the 18th century: a small open-air museum is organized around them today, which acquaints visitors with the history of the city and the region of the 17-19th centuries .
The Zwolle synagogue, which is considered one of the most beautiful in Holland, is also quite attractive .This neo-Renaissance structure of red stone was erected at the very end of the 19th century .And a more unusual urban object is the old church of Broerenker, which was built in the middle of the 15th century .It is interesting because in 2013 .inside they built a large modern bookstore Waanders .In the interior of the restored church remained a beautiful body, high vaulted Gothic ceilings and window stained glass windows .They are surrounded by multilevel book shelves, reading rooms and a small cafe .
Of the modern landmarks of the city, we can not fail to mention the railway bridge through the Eisel of the middle of the last century, a monumental iron construction. Another recognizable bridge is distinguished by a characteristic detail: supports whose design resembles the appearance of wrenches.
In the city museum of Zwolle, you can see a good collection of paintings, the pearl of which is considered to be the "Le Blyut Fin" mill of Van Gogh's own work. The authorship of the work has been contested for a long time, but today it does not cause doubts. In addition, there are several works of other masters with a worldwide reputation, for example, Mondrian, and regularly hold temporary exhibitions of contemporary artists. The city's theater De Spiegel is well known, which occupies a modern glass-concrete building. It has excellent acoustics.
The Ecodrom Theme Park will primarily attract children: there are many cognitive and entertaining expositions with dinosaurs (not vsamdelishnymi), piranhas (vsamdelichnye), terrariums, models of forests and mountains, etc.
Book popular hotels in Zwolle at the best prices
| Librije's Hotel from 11 441 rubles Zwolle Spinhuisplein 1 | ||
| Bilderberg Grand Hotel Wientjes from 5 100 rubles Zwolle Stationsweg 7 | Hotel Lumen Zwolle from 4 825 rub. Zwolle Stadionplein 20 | Mercure Hotel Zwolle from 3,377 rubles Zwolle Hertsenbergweg 1 |
| Best Western Hotel Restaurant Fidder from 4 687 rubles Zwolle Koningin Wilhelminastraat 6 | Campanile Hotel & Restaurant Zwolle from 2 688 rubles Zwolle Schuttevaerkade 40 | |
| Hanze Hotel Zwolle from 4 411 rub. Zwolle Rode Torenplein 10-11 |
Events Zwolle
In winter, the annual ice sculpture festival takes place in Zwolle. It starts in the first days of December and lasts almost two months. To keep the sculptures so long, special pavilions are built around them. Authors come here from all over Europe, they even travel from Canada. The beginning of the festival is marked by the joint construction of a hotel from the ice, which externally and internally copies the real hotel - with furniture, interior decorations and other.
In November the International Guitar Festival is held in the city with the duration of a week .And the festival of the middle of summer starts at the end of June and includes about 100 performances at 15 different venues - jazz, pop and folk concerts, as well as blues evenings, performances of wind and classical chamber orchestras and theatrical productions .In July, the city hosts an annual festival of synapses, with a traditional handicraft market, folk music and dances .The first weekend of September - the traditional time of the Netherlands jazz festival .