The Prinsentuin was founded during the Golden Age, the 17th century, by the stadholder family and was bestowed on the residents of Leeuwarden by the royal family at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Prinsentuin has been a public city park since the end of the eighteenth century and this makes it the oldest park of its kind in the Netherlands. The park’s bandstand dates from 1881. There is also a restaurant called ‘De Koperen Tuin’, named after the novel by the writer Simon Vestdijk.

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The Waag was established in 1595 and was the butter and cheese trading centre until 1884. After that, trading continued in what was known as the Beurs, which is now a library and the office of the ANWB [Royal Dutch Touring Club].

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Leeuwarden also has a leaning tower just like Pisa in Italy. The building work was started in 1529. Once the builders had reached a height of ten metres, the tower started to lean to one side. The master builder, Jacob van Aaken, decided to correct the lean by building straight upwards and this led to a kink in the structure. The tower continued to subside during the building process. Van Aaken died in 1531. Tradition has it that he died of sorrow. The city council wanted to have a large tall tower built at all costs, and so the construction work continued. In 1533, when the second gallery had been completed, the builders concluded that there was no point carrying on and the construction work was halted. In 1595, the nearby ancient St Vitus church was demolished. What remains is, therefore, a leaning and incomplete 40 metre high tower with 183 steps and which is open to the public in the summer.

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At the Turfmarkt in Leeuwarden you will find the best things that Frisians ever created. Permanent expositions like the Hindelooper rooms and an art collection in the cellars for instance. And plenty of room for contemporary artists.

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