Leiden is an important city in the south of Netherlands It has a total area of 23.16 square kilometers. The population of Leiden is about 118, 000.
Attractions in the City
The city is known for its fortifications, churches and university buildings. Of Leiden's old city gates of the 17th Century, only two are left. They are the Zijlpoort and the Morspoort. Apart from one small watch tower on the Singel nothing is left of the town's city walls. The Graven Steen is another great fortification. It was built as a fortress in the 13th Century. The fortress served as a house, library and prison. Presently, it is one of the main buildings of the university.
The Churches
The chief of Leiden's numerous churches are the Hooglandsche Kerk. It is also known as the church of St Pancras. It was built in the 15th Century and contains a monument of Pieter Adriaanszoon van der Werff. The Pieterskerk church of St Peter with monuments to Scaliger, Boerhaave and other famous scholars is another famous church. From a historical perspective the Marekerk is another important church. It was designed by Arent van's Gravesande.
Other fine examples of Arent van's Gravesande work in Leiden are De Lakenhal and the Bibliotheca Thysiana. In the Leiden are De Lakenhal the municipal museum is located.
The University
The town centre contains many buildings that are in use by the University of Leiden. The academy building is housed in the 16th Century convent. The institutions connected with the university include the national institution for East Indian languages, ethnology and geography; the botanical gardens, founded in 1587; the observatory, the museum of antiquities, and the ethnographical museum, of which P. F. von Siebold's Japanese collections was the nucleus.
The Bibliotheca Thysiana housed in a renaissance building is rich in legal works and vernacular chronicles. The special collections at Leiden University Library are among the note worthy. In recent years the university has built the Bio Science Park at the city's outskirts to make room for the Science departments.
Detailed information on Leiden can be obtained from travel.mapsofworld
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