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Franeker - Town hall |
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The attractive town hall, with its stepped gables and octagonal bell tower, is one of the town’s showpieces. It was designed and built by local master craftsmen. The interior of the town hall is also well worth a visit. Click on photo to enlarge |
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Franker - Five |
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The Bogt Fen Guné, next to the old fives field, is the oldest student café in Friesland. It dates from the 16th century and is now a traditional pub. Fives, or ‘kaatsen’, is a Frisian ball game and once a year a tournament is held in Franeker, next to the Bogt Fen Guné. This tournament is referred to as the PC. The competitors battle it out for the title of ‘fives king’. The games take place on the famous Frisian hallowed turf of It Sjûkelân. You can find out all about this Frisian sport in the 14th century Cammingahuis, which is now the fives museum. Click on photo to enlarge |
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Franerke - Planetarium Eise Eisinga |
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On the living room ceiling of a magnificent Frisian canalside house in Franeker is the oldest working planetarium in the world. This precisely moving model of the solar system was constructed between 1774 and 1781 by the wool comber Eise Eisinga. Click on photo to enlarge |
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Franker - Museum Martena |
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The university, which was founded in Franeker in 1585, was originally a monastery dating from 1468. It was the second university in the Netherlands, after Leiden, which was founded ten years earlier. From the end of the 16th century onwards, the university in Franeker started attracting a great many distinguished academics. This is clear to see In the Voorstraat, where the houses have huge gardens. Details of the university’s history can be found in the Martena Museum, as well as information on the only woman to have attended, namely Anna Maria van Schurman. In 1811, Napoleon downgraded Franeker university to a grammar school and this led to the university closing its doors in 1843. Click on photo to enlarge |
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