Netherlands – Delft

Delft is inland from The Hague and close to Rotterdam. It is a lovely place to wander around with tree-lined canals and small bridges across them at suitable intervals. Houses stand on either side. There are a few cars and plenty of bicycles. A lot of people come to visit the Delftware ceramic shops.

Again, I arrived by train and walked for about ten minutes to reach the main square called Markt. At one end of this large open space stands the Stadhuis whose stone tower survived a massive fire in 1536 when the rest of the building did not. This tower looks slightly incongruous with the later windows and decorations. On the opposite side of the square is the tall spire of the Nieuwe Kerk, 100 metres high and dating from 1872. This church contains the mausoleum of William the Silent / William of Orange who led the Dutch resistance against the Habsburgs. He was assassinated in his residence called the Prinsenhof close to the Oude Kerk in 1584.

The most famous person from Delft is probably the painter Johannes Vermeer so it’s no surprise there’s a Vermeercentrum in Delft. If you want to see all thirty seven of the paintings currently attributed to Vermeer, this is the place for you although none of the paintings are the originals, they’re all reproductions.

The aforementioned Oude Kerk is right by a canal and when you first see the tower, you might think you’re standing on a slope, because the tower does lean but it’s been leaning for many decades. Inside is a finely carved pulpit and a Liberation Window commemorating the expulsion of the Germans towards the end of WWII.