Leiden

History

It is true that Leiden is an old town, but its claimed connection with Ancient Rome|Roman Lugdunum Batavorum is spurious; this Roman encampment would rather be the modern city of Katwijk. 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 the Netherlands|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 Spain|Spaniards in 1574 is still celebrated. Besieged from May until October, it was relieved by the cutting of the dyke (construction)|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 also 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 late 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.

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 Canal|canals with tree-bordered quays. On the south side of the town, the Hortus Botanicus Leiden|Hortus Botanicus and other 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 ship loaded with gunpowder in 1807 which destroyed hundreds of houses, including that of the Elsevier family of Printer (publisher)|printers.

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.

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 ''Morspoort'', both dating from the end of the 17th century. Apart from one small watch tower 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 and 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 Joseph Justus Scaliger|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 Leiden_University_Library#Bibliotheca_Thysiana|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 Classicism|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

building]] 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 Hortus Botanicus Leiden|botanical gardens, founded in 1587; the Leiden Observatory|observatory (1860); the museum of antiquities (''Rijksmuseum van Oudheden''); and the ethnography|ethnographical museum, of which Philipp Franz von Siebold|P. F. von Siebold's Japanese collections was the nucleus. The Leiden_University_Library#Bibliotheca_Thysiana|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 many special collections at Leiden University Library among which those 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, Leiden|Bio Science Park at the city's outskirts to accommodate 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 ''Gemeenslandshuis van Rynland'' (1596, restored in 1878); the weigh house (''Waag''), built by Pieter Post ; the former court-house (''Gerecht''); a corn-grinding windmill, now home to a museum (''Molen de Valk'') (1743) the old gymnasium (school)|gymnasium(''Latijnse School'') (1599) and the city carpenter's yard and wharf (''Stadstimmerwerf'') (1612), both built by Lieven de Key (c. 1560-1627). Another building of interest is the "pesthuis", which was built at that time just outside the city for curing patients suffering the bubonic plague. However, after it was built the feared disease didn't occur in the Netherlands anymore so it was never used for its original purpose.

Famous ''Leidenaren''

William II, Count of Holland, 1228-1256, King of Germany

Johannes Bachstrom, (1688 - 1742) , writer

Herman Boerhaave, 1668 - 1738, humanist and physician (born in Voorhout).

Gerhard Douw, 1613 - 1675, painter.

Cornelius Engelbrechtszoon, 1468 -1533, painter.

Jan van Goyen, 1596 - 1656, painter.

John of Leiden, 1509? - 1536, leader of the Anabaptist Münster Rebellion.

Lucas van Leyden, 1494 - 1533, engraver and painter.

Marinus van der Lubbe, 1909 - 1934, accused of Reichstag fire|setting fire to the ''Reichstag'' in Berlin.

Gabriel Metsu, 1629 - 1667, painter.

Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606 - 1669, painter.

Jan Steen, 1626 - 1679, painter.

Johannes Diderik van der Waals, 1837 - 1923, scientist.

Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff, 1529 - 1604, mayor of Leiden.

Miscellaneous

The mayor is Henri Lenferink (since 2003).

The coat of arms of Leiden is two keys, crossed in an X-shape.

Wireless Leiden is a wireless community network, see that article.

For a time Leiden held the title "The Coldest Place on Earth": in a laboratory, because of the developments in cryogenics that have happened there. Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1913 Nobel price winner in physics) liquefied helium for the first time (1908), and later managed to reach a temperature of less than one degree above the absolute minimum.

The Leyden jar, a capacitor made from a glass jar, was invented here by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1746. It was actually first invented by Ewald Georg von Kleist the year before, but the name "Leyden jar" stuck.

Leiden is on the planned route of the RijnGouweLijn, the Netherland's first Light rail project. Within Leiden its route will be: Leiden Lammenschans - Korevaarstraat - Breestraat - stop Haarlemmerstraat - Stationsplein - Joop Walenkamptunnel - Albinusdreef (Leiden University Medical Centre|LUMC) - Sandfortdreef - Zernikedreef (Hogeschool) - (Einsteinweg) - Ehrenfestweg - (Plesmanlaan) - Transferium A44.

There are plans for a mega movie theater and disco (see nightclub) http://www.skyscrapercity.info/100.php?id=4&bid=1265next to the bus station. There is also opposition, because it would damage the exploitation of other cinemas.

Leiden has five twin towns: Juigalpa in Nicaragua, Krefeld in Germany, Oxford in the UK, Buffalo City in South Africa and Toruń in Poland

Postal codes are in the range 2300-2334.

The telephone area code is 071.

Leyden High School District 212 in Franklin Park, Illinois, USA got its name from this town.

External links

http://www.leiden.nl/

http://www.leiden360.nl/index2.htm

http://leiden.gemeentegids.nu/

http://www.leiden.nl/gemeente/publiek/statistiek/_files/jaarboek/kaartleiden(note that one quarter is partly in one town part, partly in another one)

http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/01B8A307-7DB8-499C-8219-31CC10B32666/0/Leiden.pdf (pdf) - with (towards the end) a map showing the neighborhoods and (a few pages further) the population figures etc. as well as the grouping into quarters

http://leiden.boogolinks.nl

http://www.plattegronden.nl/leiden/

http://www.leiden.nu

http://www.xs4all.nl/~smaardyk/leiden-en.htm

http://www.skyscrapercity.info/303.php?id=4&country=NL&city=LID

Entries for Leiden in Gazetteers: http://middleware.alexandria.ucsb.edu/client/gaz/adl/renderReportID.jsp?identifier=adlgaz-1-3089090-75http://www.getty.edu/vow/TGNFullDisplay?find=leiden&place=&nation=Netherlands&prev_page=1&english=Y&subjectid=7006809http://www.fallingrain.com/world/NL/11/Leiden.htmlhttp://www.tageo.com/index-e-nl-v-11-d-m2979844.htmhttp://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1109471847&men=gpro&lng=en&gln=xx&dat=32&geo=-2723&srt=npan&col=aohdq&pt=c&va=&geo=511830449

Museums and libraries

http://www.lakenhal.nl/en/index.htmlMunicipal Museum

http://www.rmo.nl/new/home.htmlNational Museum of Archaeology|Antiquities

http://www.naturalis.nl/asp/page.asp?alias=naturalis.engNational Museum of Natural History

http://www.rmv.nl/rmv/e/index/fr_opening.htmlNational Museum of Ethnology

http://www.museumboerhaave.nl/frame_eng.htmlNational Museum of the History of Science and Medicine

http://www.molendevalk.nl/Museum Windmill

http://www.hortus.leidenuniv.nl/english/Hortus Botanicus Leiden

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/LeidenMuseum.htmmuseum dedicated to the Pilgrim Fathers

http://www.penningkabinet.nl/homepage/Eindex.htmlNational Museum of Coins and Medals

http://ub.leidenuniv.nl/Leiden University Library

http://www.sieboldhuis.org/

Public transport

Rail transport departure schedules (see also http:/www.ns.nl ):

Leiden Centraal (ledn): http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/bhftafel.exe/en?evaId=8400390

Leiden Lammenschans (ldl): http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/bhftafel.exe/en?evaId=8400384

De Vink (dvnk): http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/bhftafel.exe/en?evaId=8400188

Connexxion Region West: http://www.connexxion.nl/website/uwregio.asp?action=goto_regio&regioid=34&id=35

Bus stops and lines in Leiden: 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 http://www.connexxion.nl/website/dienstregeling.asp?command=reisinfo_dienstregeling&overid=55&overidmem=54&regioid=34&id=35

http://www.sporenplan.nl/html_nl/sporenplan/ns/ns_normaal/gvc.htmlon Train station Leiden Centraal

http://www.rijngouwelijn.nl/Light rail project

Region

http://images.gemeente-gids.net/kaarten/leiden_kaart_.gif

Adjacent municipalities

Clockwise, with maps.

Oegstgeest http://www.plattegronden.nl/oegstgeest/

Warmond

Leiderdorp http://www.plattegronden.nl/leiderdorp/

Zoeterwoude http://www.plattegronden.nl/zoeterwoude/

Leidschendam-Voorburg http://www.plattegronden.nl/gemeentevoorburg-leidschendam/

Voorschoten http://www.plattegronden.nl/voorschoten/

Wassenaar http://www.plattegronden.nl/wassenaar/

Valkenburg (South Holland)|Valkenburg