# Mata Hari's home town, the Frisian city: Leeuwarden



## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Leeuwarden or as the locals call it; Liwwadden. It's the capital city of the Dutch province of Friesland. It is situated in the northern part of the country. Here is a short impression of this small city with a population of circa 97000.

Pics are hosted by: photobucket


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## aarhusforever (Jun 15, 2010)

Nice mix of old and new in this beautiful town  I love the tall slim highrise


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

Beautiful!


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Looking really beautiful, very nice town


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Thank you so much for your kind comments.
host: photobucket


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## Wapper (Feb 24, 2011)

It's kind of funny to see a sign directing to the station right in front of the station 

Great houses. You can easily see that the Netherlands have been a trading nation for a long time.


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

beautiful and charming...:cheers2:


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## Benonie (Dec 21, 2005)

Nice city and some decent highrises. The old Dutch townhouses are beautiful.


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## manrush (May 8, 2008)

Leeurwarden is a city I've been curious about. Great to see a lovely thread, showcasing it.


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Welcome and thanks for those new very nice photos :cheers:



>


btw, in this painting on the right of the photo, those are the 3 musketeers?


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

christos-greece said:


> Welcome and thanks for those new very nice photos :cheers:
> 
> 
> btw, in this painting on the right of the photo, those are the 3 musketeers?


I don't know exactly but i think so. It is a subtile advertisement for a beer brand on a popular café/dining in town. Thanks for the welcome message. 

A few pics that i forgot to post in my last update:


(One of the 5 Courts of Appeal in NL)






























A new update with more pictures may take some time, I'm waiting for nice clear days with some bright sunlight.


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## capricorn2000 (Nov 30, 2006)

beautiful city with an impressive highrises.
I'm just curious if Mata Hari's house is still standing there..


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

capricorn2000 said:


> beautiful city with an impressive highrises.
> I'm just curious if Mata Hari's house is still standing there..


It's still standing in the innercity area, you can find it on Google Street View, it is the red building. I will take a picture of her house and post it in the next update. Thank you for your comment.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Jewish memorial: (ww:ii)





























Mata Hari's house:



















Former seat of local government:



















Former residence of the Dutch royal family and was owned by them until 1971:


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

*Some new pictures.*


The former Main Post Office of Leeuwarden.









Seat of the Provincial government (Friesland).





























Blokhuispoort: Former state prison.









Former military barracks (on the right) and the red light district in the background.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

A small industrial park.









Urban Jungle?


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## Kampflamm (Dec 28, 2003)

Looks quite Dutch. :smug:


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Yes indeed, there is no latin extravaganza in Dutch cities.


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Leuwaarden looks nice like most Dutch cities. I just came back for trip from Holland, didn't go to Leuwaarden but been there before.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Up to a new page for better page load time.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Just trying to do 2 pictures per post, to improve page load time.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Sint-Bonifatiuskerk (Saint Boniface Church) in the background.









Old and new, the top of the windmill building is scrapped.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

3. River Ee









4. Ee-area









5. Northern bridge, busy bridge towards the town center.


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## weirdo (Feb 15, 2003)

Spectacular photos. I like this city, it's kinda like Amsterdam (I'm not sure if all Dutch cities carry that look) but cleaner and more laid back. :cheers:


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

weirdo said:


> Spectacular photos. I like this city, it's kinda like Amsterdam (I'm not sure if all Dutch cities carry that look) but cleaner and more laid back. :cheers:


Many cities in Holland looks like smaller versions of Amsterdam with canals and typical dutch architecture. Just like you can see similarites between cities in most countries.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

A lot of (mid size) cities in the Netherlands had a similar look as a city like Amsterdam until recently. But many of these cities changed a lot, for the most part due to industrialization, the rise of the automobile (reclaiming canals for paved roads) and WWII. Luckily some cities were spared of bombings and canal reclamation. 


Thanks for the comments.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

EC 2012











Backside of the Frisian Museum, historical downtown in the background.











facade detail, Frisian Museum.


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## Eduardo L. Ramirez (Jul 24, 2008)

Awesome pics of a great city (it seems)! :applause:

Some of them remind me a lot of the relaxed atmosphere in Utrecht, my 2nd favorite city (after The Hague).


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Eduardo L. Ramirez said:


> Awesome pics of a great city (it seems)! :applause:
> 
> Some of them remind me a lot of the relaxed atmosphere in Utrecht, my 2nd favorite city (after The Hague).


Thanks man, your feedback means a lot to me.


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## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

Are there any signs in Frisian there?


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## Linguine (Aug 10, 2009)

thanks for the lovely photos...:cheers:


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

DanielFigFoz said:


> Are there any signs in Frisian there?


Not really, about 90 percent of the signs are monolingual in Dutch, the other 10 procent is bilingual. So there are some signs in Frisian but they are more for decoration purposes. It's not like Brussels for example. 

Outside the municipality of Leeuwarden, every other municipality can adopt its own language policy in Friesland.



Linguine said:


> thanks for the lovely photos...:cheers:


Thank you :cheers:


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## The Cake On BBQ (May 10, 2010)

Looks rather dense for a city of 97,000. Lovely city, anyway. I really like Frisia, specially rural Frisia


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## MarkusErikssen (Oct 4, 2005)

Great pictures of Leeuwarden. I study in this city. It looks quite big for a city with almost 95.000+ people.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Slauerhoffbrug (English: Slauerhoff Bridge)






























































The Cake On BBQ said:


> Looks rather dense for a city of 97,000. Lovely city, anyway. I really like Frisia, specially rural Frisia





SimsPlanet2 said:


> Great pictures of Leeuwarden. I study in this city. It looks quite big for a city with almost 95.000+ people.


Thanks for the kind remarks.


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

Oude Doelesteeg (popular pub street for students)











Mercurius fountain (u/c) 











Ruiterskwartier (less popular shopping district)











Wirdumerpoortsdwinger (canals)











Façade of the (u/c) Frisian museum


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

*a small update*











Street market








Street market


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)

*Autumn in the streets*


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## Godius (Aug 31, 2011)




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