Delft





We live in the city of Delft. Delft is a very old city and has a charming downtown.

Delft is famous for the artist JohannesVermeer, who lived here all his life. He lived from 1631 to 1675. Here are two of my favorite paintings by him, “The Girl With A Pearl Earring” and “View on Delft". You can click on the painting to see a bigger view of it. Plus here is a jigsaw puzzle to do of the Girl with a Pearl Earring…you can change the ‘cut’ of the puzzle for less pieces.

Delft is also well known for the Delft pottery ceramic products, which were made to look like the Chinese porcelain of the 17th century. There are still factories making the pottery today and the center square of Delft is full of shops where you can purchase some.

Here is a view of the Old Church of Delft. The construction of the church started in 1250! Do you notice something about the tower? You are right…it leans. It started to lean even before it was completed. It is stabilized now so it won’t fall over.



This is a picture of the longest bridge in Old Delft (the center of town).

It looks like a street but a canal runs under it, as you can see by this photo.


The town of Delft used to be surrounded by a wall, like many towns in Europe. This is the only remaining gate of the old city walls. It is call the Oostpoort (Eastern Gate).


The canals were used for transportation and for delivering food and other goods to the town. Now days, the canals are used for boats with tourists, for pleasure crafts, and still to deliver goods. There are several bridges in Delft for cars, bikes, and people to cross to into the center of Delft, for it is surrounded by canals. The bridges are not tall enough for many boats to go under so they are opened up to allow the traffic to go through. The bridges open in different ways.

The bridge I usually cross is a drawbridge. Here is a series of photos that I took to show you what the bridge looks like when it is open and when it is finally down, from the street.



Now we can walk across the water!

Here is a boat coming through that bridge.



Another other bridge I use opens by turning. Here are two photos that show you how this bridge opens to let boats through. It is very low to the water. I often have to wait for a boat to pass before I get to cross it.
I thought I would make a slideshow for you so you can get an impression of what I see when I walk around!