Editing Leiden (section)

== Buildings of interest ==

Because of the economic decline from the end of the 17th until the middle of the 19th century, much of the 16th- and 17th-century city centre is still intact. It is the second largest 17th-century town centre in the Netherlands, the largest being Amsterdam's city centre.

A hundred buildings in the centre are decorated with large murals of poetry, part of a [[Wall poems in Leiden|wall poem project]] active from 1992, and still ongoing.<ref>{{citation |contribution=Poetry on the Wall |first=Stephan |last=Fihn |page=59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_BRStSsWgIC&pg=PA59 |title=Another Word A Day: An All-new Romp Through Some Of The Most Unusual And Intriguing Words In English |editor-first=Anu |editor-last=Garg |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-471-71845-1 |access-date=28 November 2015 |archive-date=11 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511030502/https://books.google.com/books?id=s_BRStSsWgIC&pg=PA59 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Leiden, the Dutch city of poems |first=Ida Indawati |last=Khouw |journal=[[Jakarta Post]] |date=15 July 2001 |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2001/07/14/leiden-dutch-city-poems.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130425112224/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2001/07/14/leiden-dutch-city-poems.html |archive-date=25 April 2013 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

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Morspoort-Leiden.jpg
Leiden, de Zijlpoort RM25667 foto7 2017-06-11 12.46.jpg

Leiden at night Maresingel.jpg
Leiden-Windmill-DeValk.JPG
Cultuurhuis Sijthoff Doezastraat 1-B, 2311 GZ Leiden.jpg
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=== Fortifications ===

At the strategically important junction of the two arms of the Oude Rijn stands the old [[castle]] ''de Burcht'', a circular tower built on an earthen mound. The mound probably was a refuge against high water before a small wooden fortress was built on top of it in the 11th century. The citadel is a so-called [[motte-and-bailey]] castle.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitleiden.nl/en/discover-leiden/specials/top-10-best-spots |title=10 Best Spots in Leiden |date=18 March 2016 |publisher=visitleiden.nl |access-date=18 March 2016 |archive-date=26 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326103048/http://www.visitleiden.nl/en/discover-leiden/specials/top-10-best-spots |url-status=live }}</ref> Of Leiden's old [[city gate]]s only two are left, the ''[[Zijlpoort (Leiden)|Zijlpoort]]'' and the ''Morspoort'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/more-destinations/leiden/morspoort-city-gate.htm |title=Morspoort city gate |date=4 March 2013 |access-date=21 April 2019 |archive-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421185159/https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/destinations/more-destinations/leiden/morspoort-city-gate.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> both dating from the end of the 17th century. Apart from one small watch tower on the Singel nothing is left of the town's [[city wall]]s. Another former [[fortification]] is the ''Gravensteen''. Built as a [[fortress]] in the 13th century it has since served as house, library and prison.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.visitleiden.nl/en/see-do/experience/walking-and-cycling/walking/the-leiden-loop/13-gravensteen |title=13. Gravensteen - Leiden Key to Discovery |access-date=21 April 2019 |archive-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421185458/https://www.visitleiden.nl/en/see-do/experience/walking-and-cycling/walking/the-leiden-loop/13-gravensteen |url-status=dead}}</ref> Presently it is one of the university's buildings.

=== Churches ===

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Hooglandse Kerk 1671.jpg
Leiden, de Sint Lodewijkskerk RM25593 met de Groenebrug foto7 2017-06-11 11.01.jpg
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The chief of Leiden's numerous churches are the [[Hooglandse Kerk]] (or the church of [[Pancras of Rome|St Pancras]], built in the 15th century and containing a monument to Pieter Adriaansz. van der Werff) and the ''[[Pieterskerk, Leiden|Pieterskerk]]'' (church of [[St Peter]] (1315)) with monuments to [[Joseph Justus Scaliger|Scaliger]], [[Boerhaave]] and other scholars. From a historical perspective the [[Marekerk]] is interesting too. [[Arent van 's Gravesande]] designed that church in 1639. Other fine examples of his work in Leiden are in the ''[[Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal]]'' (the municipal museum of fine arts), and the ''[[Leiden University Library#Bibliotheca Thysiana|Bibliotheca Thysiana]]''. The growing city needed another church and the [[Marekerk]] was the first Protestant church to be built in Leiden (and in Holland) after the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]]. It is an example of [[Classicism|Dutch Classicism]]. In the drawings by Van 's Gravesande the [[pulpit]] is the centrepiece of the church. The pulpit is modelled after the one in the ''[[Nieuwe Kerk (Haarlem)|Nieuwe Kerk]]'' at Haarlem (designed by [[Jacob van Campen]]). The building was first used in 1650, and is still in use. The [[Heilige Lodewijkkerk]] is first catholic church in Leiden that was built after the Reformation. This church was given to the Catholics after the gunpowder explosion in 1807, which killed 150 inhabitants and destroyed a large part of the city centre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lodewijkparochie.nl/kerk/katholiek-kerk-leiden |title=Historie Kerk |language=nl |work=lodewijkparochie.nl |access-date=9 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222111709/http://www.lodewijkparochie.nl/kerk/katholiek-kerk-leiden |archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref><ref>Hein van Woerden (eindred.): Lodewijk in Leiden. Geschiedenis van kerk en orgel. Leiden, Parochie van de Heilige Lodewijk, 2005.</ref> The 'Waalse Kerk' (Breestraat 63) was originally part of the Katharina Hospital. In 1584 it became the church of Protestant refugees from the Southern Netherlands (Brugge) and France. Later churches in the centre include the [[St. Joseph, Leiden|St. Joseph]] in [[expressionism|expressionistic]] style.

=== University buildings ===

[[File:Leiden-Sterrewacht-2013-d.jpg|thumb|The 1860 [[Leiden Observatory]], after restoration (2013)]]
[[File:Hortus botanicus Leiden.jpg|thumb|Botanical gardens]]
The city centre contains many buildings that are in use by the [[University of Leiden]]. The ''Academy Building'' is housed in a former 16th-century [[convent]]. Among the institutions connected with the university are the national institution for East Indian languages, [[ethnology]] and [[geography]]; the botanical gardens, founded in 1587; the [[Leiden Observatory|observatory]] (1860); the museum of antiquities (''[[Rijksmuseum van Oudheden]]''); and the [[ethnography|ethnographical]] museum, of which [[Philipp Franz von Siebold|P.{{nbsp}}F. von Siebold's]] Japanese collection was the nucleus (''[[National Museum of Ethnology (Netherlands)|Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde]]''). This collection is now housed in a separate museum called the ''[[SieboldHuis]]''. The Bibliotheca Thysiana occupies an old [[Renaissance]] building of the year 1655. It is especially rich in legal works and [[vernacular]] chronicles. Noteworthy are also the many special collections at [[Leiden University Library]] among which those of the [[Society of Dutch Literature]] (1766) and the collection of casts and engravings. In recent years the university has built the [[Leiden Bio Science Park]] at the city's outskirts to accommodate the Science departments. {{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

=== Other buildings ===

*'''Stadhuis''' (City Hall), a 16th-century building that was badly damaged by a fire in 1929 but has its Renaissance façade designed by [[Lieven de Key]] still standing
*'''[[Gemeenlandshuis van Rijnland]]''' (1596, restored in 1878)
*'''[[Weigh House (Leiden)|De Waag]]''' (English: [[weigh house]]), built by [[Pieter Post]]
*'''Gravensteen''' – a former 15th century jail at the ''Gerecht'' square (former court-house) 
*'''[[Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden|Stedelijk Gymnasium]]''' (aka Latijnse School) – the old [[gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] (1599)
*'''[[Holy Spirit Orphanage|Heilige Geest Weeshuis]]''' (a former ''Holy Spirit Orphanage'') – a complex of 16th century buildings.
*'''[[Museum De Valk|Molen de Valk]]''' – a corn-grinding windmill, now home to a museum (1743)
*'''Pesthuis''', which was built during 1657–1661 at that time just outside the city for curing patients suffering the [[bubonic plague]]. However, after it was built the feared disease did not occur in the Netherlands anymore so it was never used for its original purpose. The building has been used as a military hospital, prison, national asylum and army museum. Until 2019, it served as the entrance of [[Naturalis]]. This museum, one of the largest [[natural history]] museums in the world, was recently renovated and is a building of interest in itself.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.saatchigallery.com/museums/museum-profile/Naturalis+%25E2%2580%2593+National+Museum+Of+Natural+History/2575.html |title=Naturalis – National Museum of Natural History :: The Saatchi Gallery |last=Gallery |first=Saatchi |website=www.saatchigallery.com |access-date=22 March 2016 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000200/http://www.saatchigallery.com/museums/museum-profile/Naturalis+%25E2%2580%2593+National+Museum+Of+Natural+History/2575.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*'''[[Stadstimmerwerf]]''' – the city carpenter's yard or construction yard (1612), built by Lieven de Key ({{circa|1560}}–1627). The former residence of the city's master carpenter is open to the public and is in use as an art gallery of a local visual artists collective.