The Netherlands – Den Bosch

The full name of this delightful town is ‘s-Hertogenbosch. It’s about an hour away from Amsterdam on the inter-city train and the walk into the centre takes about ten minutes.

The Markt public square is large and surrounded by 17th Century houses. The most famous son of the town, Hieronymous Bosch, has a statue in the square and an arts centre in the St Jacobskerk. None of the twenty six paintings in the centre are originals but they do give a great idea of the tormented religious nature of his work. Hieronymous was “the master of the monstrous” and “the discoverer of the unconscious” according to Carl Jung.

There is a rather swish glass-fronted Design Museum here as well as the Slager Museum of paintings by the Slager family. The Zwanenbroederhuis has the look of a masonic lodge but houses a collection of musical scores and songbooks belonging to the Brotherhood founded in 1318. Hieronymous Bosch was a member.

The Sint-Janskathedraal was built between 1380 and 1530. Inside it’s a bit dark in places but does have a highly rated (by those who know) organ case, font, and Lady Chapel. The exterior has a huge range of statues including an angel wearing trousers with a large 1990s mobile phone and rows of musicians on the apexes of the rooves.

The seventeenth-century fortifications are much in evidence and parts of the fourteenth century walls are visible. The Bastion Orange on the south side of Den Bosch provides a good view over the Bossche Broek nature reserve.