“Travel is like knowledge. The more you see, the more you know you haven’t seen.”
Naarden
Naarden is a small town located in the East of Amsterdam, in the Gooi and Vecht region. It is well known for 12-pointed star-shaped fort that look like a giant snowflake from the air. Naarden is well preserved since the 17th century, where the whole town is within a fortification system. The fortresses were used between 15th - 18th century to protect the Dutch from the blood thirsty Spanish and other foreigner invaders.
Beside not far from Amsterdam, I feel that Naarden is a place not to miss as it is one of the best hidden gems of The Netherlands.
The History of Naarden
Naarden is one of the best-preserved fortified towns in the Europe. Its history goes back to 9th century. The wall was originally located at the lower ground of the town where it was often plagued by disastrous floods thus the people moved the town to upper ground where is stands today. It became a prosperous merchant town for textiles until the Spanish launched a ferocious attack to the town in 1572. Please read below for more information on my visit to "Spanish House (Spaanse Huis)."
Access to Naarden
As Muider and Naarden are close by, we went to Muider in the morning and came over in the afternoon.
It is very easy access. We took bus 210 from Muider Centrum bus stop for 21min ride and alight at bus stop Naarden Westwalstraat which is 5min walk to the town of Naarden. If you are coming from elsewhere, the best way to visit Naarden is by train which is 20 min train ride away from Amsterdam Centraal station. Naarden-Bussum is the train station of Naarden.
Napoleon & Naarden
Naarden and the Dutch Fortress Museum have a special relationship with Napoleon Bonaparte: On 21 October 1811, during his visit to the Netherlands, the French Emperor inspected Naarden-Vesting that he had been incorporated into his French Empire a year earlier. After Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the French army withdrew from the Netherlands. However, the French garrison in Naarden-Vesting refused to leave. Only after a siege of six months with intensive bombardments, the French surrendered to the Dutch Army on 12 May 1814.
Entrance to Naarden Fort
If I am not wrong, there are 3 entrances to the fort.
This is the one we are going to enter from it.
It is a common sight to see cannons in Naarden especially near the museum.
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| The view from the outside of the fort. |
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| The view from the outside of the fort. |
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| The view from the outside of the fort. |
Fortress of Naarden (Nederlands Vesting Museum)
The Vestingmuseum (museum) consists of an open-air part and an underground part. The underground part house the collection of artefacts and an insight into the life of a soldier in the fortress while the outdoor museum has a huge display of cannons.
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These are the 2 photos we have while exploring the top of the museum.
Above 2 photos are from google as the place was pretty crowded and it is hard to get a proper photo.
Shopping in Naarden
Have you ever shopping in a fortified town?
All the streets and the alleys in the Naarden Fortress are easy to access with wide range of shops.
We visited on the Sunday, so all the shops are closed except for the food and beverage shops.
Based on a stroll through the roads and lanes, I can see that from clothing stores to bakeries, almost everything can be found in this beautiful, fortified town. Walk through the well decorated main street or getting lost in one of the small alley, there is always some interesting shops waiting for you to chance upon.
Spaanse Huis (Spanish House)
The Dutch were in wars against The Spanish for 80 years during 1572 and this building was a city hall during that era.. All the men of the city were invited to the City Hall by the Spanish to attend a "Peace Talk" but they were all ended up being brutally murdered in Spaanse Huis by being setted on fire. The Spainish army even looted the town and began another killing spree. Only around 60 Naarden villagers survived the massacare out of 3000.
This is a powerful picture hanging above the entrance of Spaanse Huis. You can see, the picture is showing how the villagers were brutally attacked.
Utrechtse Poort’ (Utrecht Gate) that dated back to 1877. Here you can also find the tourist information center. The grounds are extremely well preserved and fun to climb around, but it is really difficult to know that Naarden is a star. The aerial views you see on GoogleEarth are crazy cool. We start our free walking tour through Naarden at the Utrechtse Poort, which is an old city gate. Naarden used to have six city gates. At the Utrechtse Poort, you can see the faces of King Willem the third and his wife Sophia. As well as the city arms of Naarden, which exists out of two eagles. There was a steam tram that drove under the city gate for years, which you can see at the ceiling. This makes the Utrechtse poort one of the most special, historical sites and sights in The Netherlands. Turfpoortstraat where there are metal pipes sticking out from the ground - this is called "listening Pipes" where people inside can hear what was going on at the outside.
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| Photo is from google. Grote Kerk of Naarden (Church) Standing in the middle of the fortified town since 1350. Despite various wars that raged in Naarden, the church was never bombed. There are bullets and cannon balls embedded in the walls. Not sure if we can enter the premises, we came by just to admire the exterior of the church as we are in the vicinity. There is a cannon ball stucked within the walls of the church. Since the door of the church is open, we decided to enter and were granted permission to take photos. Wow, the interior is extensively decorated with beautiful arts from 16th century on the ceilings. There are mirrors around to hold on for support that keep us away from getting neck cramps. Visitors are welcome to climb the tower of the church where we can receive the most beautiful view of the fortified town and the Star fortress. The beautiful view is the only chance to see the fortress from above but ... there are 235 stairs to reach the top of 45 meters tower. |
The Old City Hall (Stadhius)
"Faith", "Hope", "Love" - these are what these 3 sculptures represents on the facade.
The Old City Hall was built in 1601 located directly opposite Grote Kerk Naarden.
We admire the exterior of the building to understand " the Dutch Renaissance styled"
Large scale of restorations had done throughout the years to keep up with time.
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| These are "Faith" , "Hope" & "Love" |
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| Albino Deer |
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| Another photo of the Albino deer. |
Naarden is such a special town that is well hidden from the crowds. Naarden is one of the best day trips from Amsterdam.
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Thank you for dropping by.
Wish you good luck. 😄
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