{"id":15175,"date":"2018-10-17T23:19:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T15:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=15175"},"modified":"2018-10-17T23:19:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T15:19:24","slug":"leiden-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuif.com\/blog\/?p=15175","title":{"rendered":"Leiden 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most of my life I have been living in Amsterdam, but I was born in Alphen aan den Rijn, a small town 15 km from Leiden. Of course I have been in Leiden many times in my youth, but I have never really explored the town.<\/p>\n

Therefore, on the first Sunday in September, I \u00a0took the train to Leiden Central Station and visited the town.\u00a0Leiden<\/a> has a long history. It \u00a0received city rights in 1266 and\u00a0flourished in the 16th and 17th century, because of the cloth industry. Here is a map of Leiden in 1690<\/p>\n

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And here is a Google Earth view from 2008. It is remarkable how the historic town center is still easily recognisable. The blue markers indicate some of the locations where I have taken pictures.<\/p>\n

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The 1690 map is full of interesting details, Click here<\/a> for a large size image. Count the windmills on the city walls! And notice that numerous canals have nowadays been filled in to become roads.<\/p>\n

These days only two windmills are left. The Valk mill will draw your attention when you walk from the station to the old town. The water in the foreground is one of the singels (moats) surrounding the 17th century town.<\/p>\n

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De Valk<\/a> is a tower mill, built in 1743, replacing an older mill. In the past the miller was living in the mill with his family, nowadays it is an interesting museum. The mill is built so high to catch the wind. In the right picture you see the wheel to rotate the top of the mill in the direction of the wind. This is a cornmill and still operational<\/p>\n

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The lower floors show how in the past people were living here.<\/p>\n

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You have to climb many steep ladders to reach the top of the mill. The complicated machinery (wooden gears!) always fascinates me.<\/p>\n\n\t\t