Leiden and "Het Leidse Loper"

Burcht van Leiden

Knowing that it received “city rights” in 1266 almost makes it easy not to realize that the rich history of Leiden is much older. The earliest reference to “Burcht van Leiden” (Castle of Leiden) was around 860. Leiden’s old. Like almost every Dutch town, it has its share of waterways including rivers and canals.

Located at the confluence of the old and new Rhine Rivers, Leiden is home to about 120,000 people unless you count the roughly three times that amount that live in the surrounding area. Leiden is not tiny by Dutch standards, but it feels small. Like so many places in Holland, it is easy and perhaps quite natural to miss completely the historical, social, economic, or artistic significance of the places along the way. Our day trip to Leiden showed us first-hand how easy it would have been.

  

Because Leiden is the birthplace of its most famous native son, Rembrandt Harmenzoon van Rijn, I wanted to find (if possible) where that was. (First an interesting clarification: his name tells everything needed to know in those days—the ones before surnames. He was given the name “Rembrandt”. The suffix “–zoon” indicates “son of”. He was “Rembrandt, son of Harmen”. Which Harmen? The last two words tell where Harmen lived—“van Rijn” (of Rhine). Rembrandt Harmenzoon van Rijn, was “Rembrandt, son of Harmen, who lived by the Rhine River”. Cool, right?) To find my man’s stomping ground, we checked out the Tourist Information Office. I’m glad we did because that’s where we learned of The Leiden Loop.

Sometimes keys...

The Leiden Loop is a walking tour. It is perfect for tourists, like us, who want to know what they’re missing. "Het Leidse Loper” is a series of 30 sites, which took us three hours to find (including two “warm-up” stops and some elbow exercise). Along the way we couldn’t help but notice two icons of Leiden: keys and sheep. The Loop helped us understand why these two images appear so frequently around town. In 1121 the Count of Holland built a chapel dedicated to the apostle Peter. The Pieterskerk (Peter’s Church) became Leiden’s first church. The keys so often associated with St. Peter as the keeper of the pearly gates can be seen in the coat of arms of Leiden as well as all over town. (Our walk became a Where’s Waldo game for Gwaz…”I know those keys are here somewhere, now let me see…”)

It might be hard to find an American who is completely unaware of the Pilgrims who traveled to the New World on the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. It might be just as hard to find those who know that those same Pilgrims began their journey by sailing from Leiden before stopping in Rotterdam for provisions. The Pilgrims worshipped in The Peter’s Church and met there one last time before departing. See? Who knew?

Het Lakenhal

sometimes both!

Here’s one…in addition to the images of keys throughout the city, we saw sheep. Sheep in statues, in paintings, on buildings…sheep obviously meant something. On our tour of the loop, we learned that Leiden was famous for its cloth industry. Before being shipped, cloth had to be approved by inspectors. In 1639, the Lakenhal (cloth hall) was built for this purpose. Today it stands as a museum dedicated to the proud heritage built on the backs of…you guessed it…sheep.

Het Waag

Because Leiden has no central market, goods entered Leiden on flat bottom boats. Before distribution, there was always the issue of taxes, therefore everything had to be weighed. Famous cities like Amsterdam have just such a place, so it was no surprise that Leiden’s Waag (weigh house) stands in testament to the clothing industry. Again, the casual tourist might miss the significance of this once essential building.

Without the Loop we wouldn’t know how the Van der Werf Park came to be. On January 12, 1807 a ship fully loaded with gunpowder exploded, destroying an entire residential district. With thousands injured and many dead, the site of the disaster remained undeveloped for many years. In tribute, “the Great Ruin” was converted into a park in 1884. (At the center stands a statue of Pieter Adriaanzoon Van der Werf, a hero of the Spanish siege of Leiden in the 1500’s.)

Leiden University

Holland’s first university was founded in Leiden in1575. Its very first building, a chapel of the Dominican nuns, is still used for lectures and special occasions. As is sometimes the case on our excursions, something special happens, as it did when we approached the university. With my face pressed against the viewfinder of my SLR and Gwaz reading the text from our tour book, we barely noticed the two men standing on the bridge adjacent to the school. It was the formal attire of the younger man that first drew my attention. He was wearing a tuxedo with tails and no overcoat, which was far more conspicuous on a cold day in February. He held a bouquet of red roses and a green packing tube while his companion took his photo. I was busy being nosy when he turned to me and asked if I would use his camera to take the picture of both men. He said, “And make sure you get the building.” Slowly (no one ever accused me of being an astronaut) I realized the importance of their circumstances. One thing led to another and he explained that he had graduated from the school of music—the tails, the roses…the tube (containing his diploma)…duh. His “companion” was his father—the pride on his face proof enough.

February was the wrong season for the Hortus Botanicus, canal cruises, or outdoor cafes, so Leiden is back in the rotation, for sure.