Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area and the Randstad.
Delft is a popular tourist destination in the Netherlands, famous for its historical connections with the reigning House of Orange-Nassau, for its blue pottery, for being home to the painter Jan Vermeer, and for hosting Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). Historically, Delft played a highly influential role in the Dutch Golden Age.
In terms of science and technology, thanks to the pioneering contributions of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Martinus Beijerinck, Delft can be considered to be the birthplace of microbiology.
The city centre retains a large number of monumental buildings, while in many streets there are canals of which the banks are connected by typical bridges, altogether making this city a notable tourist destination.
Historical buildings and other sights of interest include:
Oude Kerk (Old Church), constructed between 1246 and 1350. Buried here: Piet Hein, Johannes Vermeer, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek.
Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), constructed between 1381 and 1496. It contains the Dutch royal family's burial vault which, between funerals, is sealed with a 5,000 kg (11,020 lb) cover stone.
A statue of Hugo Grotius created by Franciscus Leonardus Stracké [nl] in 1886, located on the Markt near the Nieuwe Kerk.
The Prinsenhof (Princes' Court), now a museum.
City Hall on the Markt.
The Oostpoort (Eastern gate), built around 1400. This is the only remaining gate of the old city walls.
The Gemeenlandshuis Delfland, or Huyterhuis, built in 1505, which has housed the Delfland regional water authority since 1645.
The Vermeer Centre in the re-built Guild house of St. Luke.
The historical "Waag" building (Weigh house).
Windmill De Roos, a tower mill built c.1760. Restored to working order in 2013.[14] Another windmill that formerly stood in Delft, Het Fortuyn, was dismantled in 1917 and re-erected at the Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem, Gelderland in 1920.
People have been talking about the tower of the Old Church for centuries. 'Why is it so crooked?', 'Could it topple over?'. To answer those questions, we need to go back to 1325?
Diversion
The Old Church has always stood directly on the ‘Delf', the old word for ‘canal', which is what gave Delft its name. But that meant that when plans were made to build a tower on the church in 1325, there was nowhere to put it. It is probable that the canal was diverted and filled in. The canal is now known as the Oude Delft, but the diversion can still be seen on maps.
Crooked
And so the tower ended up partly built on top of a former canal. This turned out not to be a sound foundation for the heavy stones of the tower, which started to subside even as it was being built. Luckily, the builders managed to stabilise it for the time being, and then carried on building straight up. That is why there is a kink in the tower, clearly visible from a distance.
Public outcry
The crooked tower - often referred to as ‘Scheve Jan' or ‘Crooked John' - has now been fully stabilised. But for a long time, people in Delft lived in fear of its collapse. In 1843, the city council even wanted to knock it down. Following a public outcry, that plan luckily came to nothing. And so the tower of the Old Church still stands today: 75 metres high, and almost two metres off centre...
Delft City Hall on the Markt was designed by municipal architect Hendrick de Keyser (1565 -1621) in the 17th century after the old, medieval building burnt down in 1618. De Keyser was considered one of the best architects of his time. He left two architectural landmarks in Delft: the grave monument of Prince William of Orange at the Nieuwe Kerk and City Hall on the Markt. Even today Delft City Hall, which faces the Nieuwe Kerk, is one of the city’s most distinctive monuments.
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