Monuments
With over six hundred listed monuments, Leeuwarden ranks among the top fifteen monument-rich municipalities in the Netherlands, thanks to a historic city centre dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
- Protected townscapes: the city centre with its canals, the Nieuwe Kanaalgebied and the Hollanderwijk all hold this status; alongside the listed monuments, the city also counts 375 townscape-defining buildings.
- From homes to warehouses: the monuments include houses, churches, windmills, warehouses, shops and offices, parks and statues; the quays, spouts and parts of the old city walls and canals in the centre are also listed.
- From the 13th century to 1940: the oldest monuments date from the thirteenth century, including the Grote or Jacobijnerkerk with its famous Christian Müller organ; the most recent is the Burmaniakamp from 1940. In between are buildings such as the Renaissance-era Kanselarij and Waag, and townhouses along the Tweebaksmarkt, the Voorstreek and the Nieuwestad.
Museums
Leeuwarden is a lively city, and you can fill a day here in many different ways.
- Pier Pander Museum: this museum showcases the work of sculptor Pier Pander; in the Pier Pander Temple you can admire the five marble statues that together form his life's work (route).
- Fries Museum: learn everything about the province of Friesland at the Fries Museum (route).
- Princessehof: this elegant building houses the National Ceramics Museum, featuring centuries-old Chinese porcelain, Islamic tiles and Art Deco works, among others (route).
- Sint-Bonifatiuskerk: one of the most important neo-Gothic buildings in the Netherlands, definitely worth a visit (route).
Walking route through the city centre
This walk of about 3.5 kilometres links the monuments and museums listed above.
- Pier Pander Museum: the sculptures of Pier Pander on the edge of the Prinsentuin.
- Oldehove: the leaning tower; climb the 183 steps for the view over the city.
- Princessehof: the National Ceramics Museum in a city palace on the Grote Kerkstraat.
- Grote or Jacobijnerkerk: the 13th century church with the famous Christian Müller organ.
- Waag: the weigh house from 1598 in the middle of the Nieuwestad, now with terraces.
- Fries Museum: the art and history of Friesland on the Wilhelminaplein.
- St Boniface Church: the neo-Gothic church with the tall tower, the end point of the route.
