Leiden Canals & Old Town

Leiden in South Holland is one of the Netherlands' oldest and most historically layered cities, established in the 9th century and developing through the medieval period into a prosperous cloth-trading town before becoming home to the Netherlands' oldest university in 1575 — a founding gift from William of Orange to the city in recognition of its resistance during a Spanish siege. The historic centre is threaded with canals, the most important of which are the Old Rhine (Oude Rijn) and the New Rhine (Nieuwe Rijn), joining at the heart of the city near the Koornbrug (corn bridge). Characteristic Leiden features include the wide Rapenburg canal, considered one of the most beautiful streets in the Netherlands, lined with university buildings, canal houses, and the Academy Building (Academiegebouw). The city's most prominent landmark is De Burcht, a circular shell-keep fortress from the 11th century set on an artificial mound in the city centre; its ramparts offer a 360-degree view and entry is free. Leiden is Rembrandt van Rijn's birthplace (1606), and the house on Weddesteeg, now demolished, stood where the Rembrandthof public square commemorates him. The Hortus Botanicus Leiden (founded 1590) is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world and cultivates tulips descended from bulbs introduced to the Netherlands from the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Throughout the city, poems are painted on the walls of canal houses in a public art project that began in 1992 and now features some 120 works in many languages.