Leiden

   

Leiden

Location municipality Leiden

Country Netherlands
Province South Holland
Area
- Land
- Water 		23.16 km²
21.99 km²
0.16 km²
Population (2004)
- Density 		118,702
5397/km²

Leiden (in English also, but now rarely, Leyden) is a city and municipality in South Holland, The Netherlands. It forms one urban area with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp and Voorschoten. It is located on the Old Rhine, close to the cities of The Hague and Haarlem.

Lat: 52:09N (52.15), Lon: 4:29E (4.48).

A university town since 1575, Leiden houses:

View over the Old Rhine in Leiden
Enlarge
View over the Old Rhine in Leiden

History

It is true that Leiden is an old town, but the connection with Roman Lugdunum Batavorum is spurious. Leiden's medieval name was Leithen, and it was governed until 1420 by burgraves, the representatives of the courts of Holland. It received city rights in 1266.

Leiden flourished in the 16th and 17th century. At the close of the 15th century the weaving establishments (mainly broadcloth) of Leiden were very important, and after the expulsion of the Spaniards Leiden cloth, Leiden baize and Leiden camlet were familiar terms. It played important role in the Eighty Years' War. Yearly on October 3 the end of the siege by the Spaniards in 1574 is still celebrated. Besieged from May until October, it was relieved by the cutting of the dikes, thus enabling ships to carry provisions to the inhabitants of the flooded town. As a reward for the heroic defence of the previous year, the University of Leiden was founded by William I of Orange in 1575. Tradition tells that the citizens were offered the choice between a university and a certain exemption from taxes. Leiden is als known as one of the places where some of the Pilgrim Fathers lived for a time in the early 17th century before their departure to the New World.

From the 17th century onwards Leiden slumped, mainly because of decline of the cloth industries. In the beginning of the 19th century the baize manufacture was altogether given up, although industry remained central to Leiden economy. This decline is painted vividly by the fall in population. The population of Leiden which, it is estimated, reached 100,000 in 1640, had sunk to 30,000 between 1796 and 1811, and in 1904 was 56,044.

Buildings of Interest

Because of the economic decline in 17th to early 20th century Leiden much of the 16th and 17th century town centre is still intact.

Rivers, Canals and Parks

The two branches of the Old Rhine which enter Leiden on the east unite in the centre of the town. The town is further intersected by numerous small and sombre canals with tree-bordered quays. On the south side of the town, gardens extend along the old Singel, or outer canal. The Van der Werff Park is named after the mayor Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff, who defended the town against the Spaniards in 1574. This open space was formed by the accidental explosion of a powdership in 1807 which destroyed hundreds of houses, including that of the Elzevir family of printers.

Fortifications

At the strategically important junction of the two arms of the Old Rhine stands the old castle De Burcht, a circular tower built on an earthen mound. The mound probably was a refuge against high water before a small wooden fortress was built on top of it in the [[11th century]. Of Leiden's old city gates only two are left, the Zijlpoort and the Marepoort, both dating from the end of the 17th century. Apart from one small wachtower on the Singel nothing is left of the town's city walls. Another former fortification is the Gravensteen. Built as a fortress in the 13th century it has since served as house, library an prison. Presently it is one of the University's buildings.

Churches

Of the numerous churches Leiden counts the chief are the Hooglandsche Kerk, or the church of St Pancras, built in the 15th century, containing the monument of Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff, and the Pieterskerk (church of St Peter(1315) with monuments to Scaliger, Boerhaave and other famous scholars. From a historical perspective the Marekerk is interesting too. Arent van 's Gravesande designed the church in 1639. Other fine examples of his work in Leiden are De Lakenhal, in which the municipal museum is located, and the Bibliotheca Thysiana. The growing town needed another church and the Marekerk was the first church to be built in Leiden after the Reformation. It is an example of Dutch Classicism. In the drawings by Van 's Gravesande the pulpit is the centrepiece of the church. The pulpit is modelled after the one in the Nieuwe Kerk at Haarlem (designed by Jacob van Campen). The building was first used in 1650, and is still in use.

University buildings

The town centre contains many buildings that are in use by the University of Leiden. The Academy Building is housed in a former 16th century convent. Among the institutions connected with the university are the national institution for East Indian languages, ethnology and geography; the botanical gardens, founded in 1587; the observatory (1860); the museum of antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden); and the ethnographical museum, of which P. F. von Siebold's Japanese collections was the nucleus. The Bibliotheca Thysiana occupies an old Renaissance building of the year 1655. It is especially rich in legal works and vernacular chronicles. Noteworthy are also the collection of the Society of Dutch Literature (1766) and the collection of casts and engravings. In recent years the university has built the Bio Science Park at the city's outskirts to accomodate the Science departments.

Other buildings

Some other interesting buildings are the town hall (Stadhuis), a 16th century building that was badly damaged by a fire in 1929); the Gemeeislandshuis van Rynland (1596, restored in 1878); the Waag, built by Pieter Post; the former court-house; the old gymnasium (1599) and the so-called city timberhouse (Stads Timmerhuis) (1612), both built by Lieven de Key (c. 1560-1627); the seamen training school; the Remonstrant seminary, transferred hither from Amsterdam in 1873; the two hospitals (one of which is private); the house of correction; and the court-house.

Famous Leidenaren

Miscellaneous

External links

Museums

Public Transport

  • Rail transport departure schedules (see also http:/www.ns.nl ):
    • Leiden Centraal (ledn): [1] (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/bhftafel.exe/en?evaId=8400390)
    • Leiden Lammenschans (ldl): [2] (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/bhftafel.exe/en?evaId=8400384)
    • De Vink (dvnk): [3] (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/bhftafel.exe/en?evaId=8400188)
  • Connexxion Region West: [4] (http://www.connexxion.nl/website/uwregio.asp?action=goto_regio&regioid=34&id=35)
    • Bus stops and lines in Leiden: [5] (http://www.aidem-media.com/projects/conneXXion2/index.php?step=1&plaats=leiden&d%5Bd%5D=20&d%5Bm%5D=11&d%5By%5D=2003) (links to schedules by stop and line)
    • Bus lines with schedules by line in the region [6] (http://www.connexxion.nl/website/dienstregeling.asp?command=reisinfo_dienstregeling&overid=55&overidmem=54&regioid=34&id=35)
  • Tracks (http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_nl/sporenplan/ns/ns_normaal/gvc.html) on Train station Leiden Centraal
  • RijnGouweLijn (http://www.rijngouwelijn.nl/) Light rail project

Region

Adjacent municipalities

Clockwise, with maps.

South Holland

Map South Holland with numbered municipalities

South Holland -- Leiden = 36

Mapquest map of Leiden (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?city=Leiden&country=nl) interactive map of South Holland (http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gemeentes/gemprovin.htmZH) basic data of Leiden (http://www.sdu.nl/staatscourant/gemeentes/gem274zh.htm)

1 Alblasserdam | 2 Albrandswaard | 3 Alkemade | 4 Alphen aan den Rijn | 5 Barendrecht | 6 Bergambacht | 7 Bergschenhoek | 8 Berkel en Rodenrijs | 9 Bernisse | 10 Binnenmaas | 11 Bleiswijk | 12 Bodegraven | 13 Boskoop | 14 Brielle | 15 Capelle aan den IJssel | 16 Cromstrijen | 17 Delft | 18 Den Haag (The Hague) | 19 Dirksland | 20 Dordrecht | 21 Giessenlanden | 22 Goedereede | 23 Gorinchem | 24 Gouda | 25 Graafstroom | 26 's-Gravendeel | 27 Hardinxveld-Giessendam | 28 Hellevoetsluis | 29 Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht | 30 Hillegom | 31 Jacobswoude | 32 Katwijk | 33 Korendijk | 34 Krimpen aan den IJssel | 35 Leerdam | 36 Leiden | 37 Leiderdorp | 38 Leidschendam-Voorburg | 39 Liemeer | 40 Liesveld | 41 Lisse | 42 Maassluis | 43 Middelharnis | 44 Midden-Delfland | 45 Moordrecht | 46 Nederlek | 47 Nieuw-Lekkerland | 48 Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel | 49 Nieuwkoop | 50 Noordwijk | 51 Noordwijkerhout | 52 Oegstgeest | 53 Oostflakkee | 54 Oud-Beijerland | 55 Ouderkerk | 56 Papendrecht | 57 Pijnacker-Nootdorp | 58 Reeuwijk | 59 Ridderkerk | 60 Rijnsburg | 61 Rijnwoude | 62 Rijswijk | 63 Rotterdam | 64 Rozenburg | 65 Sassenheim | 66 Schiedam | 67 Schoonhoven | 68 Sliedrecht | 69 Spijkenisse | 70 Strijen | 71 Ter Aar | 72 Valkenburg | 73 Vlaardingen | 74 Vlist | 75 Voorhout | 76 Voorschoten | 77 Waddinxveen | 78 Warmond | 79 Wassenaar | 80 Westland | 81 Westvoorne | 82 Zederik | 83 Zevenhuizen-Moerkapelle | 84 Zoetermeer | 85 Zoeterwoude | 86 Zwijndrecht

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da:Leiden de:Leiden (Stadt) fr:Leyde la:Lugdunum Batavorum nl:Leiden sv:Leiden pl:Lejda

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