Join me for a day in beautiful The Hague

Yesterday, I was a day in The Hague for some meetings and used that short visit to take the picture in my latest article where I referred to the St. James' Church, better known as the Great Church. As you may remember, I wrote that I lived right next to that church for six years. I loved living in the city's vibrant center, with its shops, cafes, and restaurants. It is right there, around the church, where countless people have lived for thousands of years. And it was here that the first houses and streets of the civilian town were built. 

Layers of fields dating from the Bronze Age have been found near the Great or St. James' Church. In 1912, an intact flint hand ax was found near the parliament buildings, the users of which can be classified as part of the Vlaardingen culture, between 3500 BC and 2500 BC. And just a few steps to my left from where I took yesterday's photo is the Nobelstraat, the street where traces were found in 1995, showing that people lived and worked there in both the late Iron Age and Roman times. And this is the spot where the village of Den Haghe would later be born.

A man paints the Mauritshuis museum (left) and the parliament buildings.

If you are interested in geography and history, you will note that the parliament buildings and the Great Church have been built on slightly elevated grounds. It's all that remains from a former row of sand dunes that once formed the coastline. Look around a bit more in The Hague, and you will notice a pattern: the best houses, shops, churches, and institutions have been built on former beach walls, which you recognize not only by the slight elevation but also by the sandy ground. 

In contrast, you will find cheaper homes and shops in the former peatlands, in the lower areas between beach walls. Standing in front of the Great Church, you will notice the slight incline. Just look at the cyclists: those leaving the church tower go faster than those "climbing up" the little hill. 

Where the Counts of Holland lived.

I have enjoyed living in this city that strangely never received its city rights. Since the mid-13th century, The Hague was the residence of the Counts of Holland and their successors. The town could grow as a compromise between the Dutch cities, but those same cities ensured that The Hague never became a fortified city.

Yesterday I walked around like a visitor, a tourist, in the town I knew so well. And in that mood, I look differently at all the familiar spots I have passed countless times throughout my life. Once I photographed the Church tower for yesterday's article, I took more pictures just for the fun of photography and to share them with you. I hope these pictures provide a short moment of armchair travel wherever you are reading this in the world. There is no story, just some photos. 

But let's start with a painting. Jan van Goyen painted The Hague in 1650 from the southeast. I hope you recognize the six-sided tower of the Great Church by now, exactly as you saw it in yesterday's photo in this newsletter. 

Gezicht op 's-Gravenhage vanuit het Zuid Oosten (Jan van Goyen, 1650)

Antiques market on the Korte Voorhout

The Mauritshuis museum was once described in the New York Times as the most beautiful museum in the world.

One of the canals in The Hague

De Passage in The Hague (1885) is the oldest existing shopping center in the Netherlands.

The Escher Museum

Bikes everywhere. The painter must be sitting on the right (but is not visible). On the left, you see the Mauritshuis and the parliament buildings.

I always end with a call to subscribe to this newsletter. People subscribe when I write about climate change and ignore this call when I write posts like these. But those who have followed me for a more extended period know that I took -and needed- a break from the bad news. So the focus this summer is on travel, history, the beauty of nature, or anything else that I believe might interest you. Yes, we will be back at all the planet's problems by late September, but let's enjoy these themes a bit more. Your support helps; I recently lost some subscribers, and new supporters would be very welcome. Your support makes it possible that others can read this newsletter for free.

Or you can support me by buying me a cup of coffee.

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The Back Page

Hard to miss, even while walking in the street: The Hague (Den Haag) is the city of Peace and Justice (Vrede en Recht)