Leeuwarden

Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, is a very sociable city with a surprisingly intimate center. Around the old canal area you will find many historical buildings, interesting museums, great shops and lots of restaurants, cafés, bars and terraces. Enough reasons to spend a day in Leeuwarden. View the Waag van Leeuwarden, admire the leaning tower of Oldenhove and experience a day of arts and culture in the Frisian Museum. If you love culture, then you have come to the right place.

Monuments

With more than 600 monuments, Leeuwarden is placed in the top fifteen of Dutch monument municipalities. This is due to a historical town from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The city also has protected townscapes such as the inner city with canals, the Nieuwe Kanaalgebied and the Hollanderwijk. Next to the national monument there are 375 premises which remain features of the city to this day.

These monuments include private residences, churches, mills, warehouses, shop-premises, office buildings, parks and statues. Also the quays and pipes in the inner city and parts of the old rampart and canals belong to the monuments. The oldest monuments date back from the thirteenth century; among which are the Grote or Jacobijnerkerk (minster of the Dominicans) with the famous Christian Müller organ and the parish church of Swichum (dedicated to the saints Nicholas and Catharina). The youngest monument is the Burmaniakamp from 1940. During the intermediate centuries the premises have been built like the Kanselarij, the Waag (both from the renaissance period) and mansions on the Tweebaksmarkt, the Voorstreek and the Nieuwestad. The biggest group of national monuments exists of simple private residences and shop-premises. On the Schapendijkje, at the site of the airbase there is a secular crypt of the family Dorhout. Just outside of the city there are two polder mills, the Bullemolen and the Froskepôlemolen.

Museums

Leeuwarden is an energetic city with nice events and sights. One day in Leeuwarden can be planned in many different ways. There are different museums, like the Pier Pander Museum. This museum shows the works of sculptor Pier Pander. In the Pier Pander Temple, you can admire the five marble sculptures which, together, are his lifework. Or learn more about the province Friesland in the Frisian Museum in Leeuwarden. In the stylish premise, the Princessehof, you will find the national ceramic museum. Admire for example the secular Chinese porcelain, Islamic tiles and Art Deco works. In the old center of the city you can view the Waag van Leeuwarden. The Sint-Bonifatius church is also worth a visit. This church is one of the most important neogothic buildings of The Netherlands.

Shopping

Leeuwarden has a very wide offer of shops and stores and shopping is absolutely possible here! Around the city there are various mapped bicycle routes for the fanatics, which guarantees a wonderful bicycle tour. Leeuwarden...something for everyone! Shopping in Leeuwarden can be done best in Nieuwestad, Voorstreek, Wirdumdijk and the Wilhelminaplein. In the evenings you can enjoy one of the more than a hundred catering facilities. These are mainly clustered in the Doelesteeg, around the Ruiterskwartier, at the Gouverneursplein and in Nieuwestad.