About Leiden
The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023),[6] but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with its suburbs Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten and Zoeterwoude with 215,602 inhabitants.
A university city since 1575, Leiden has been one of Europe's most prominent scientific centres for more than four centuries. Leiden is a typical university city, university buildings are scattered throughout the city and the many students from all over the world give the city a bustling, vivid and international atmosphere. Many important scientific discoveries have been made here, giving rise to Leiden's motto: 'City of Discoveries'. The city houses Leiden University, the oldest university of the Netherlands, and Leiden University Medical Center. Leiden University is one of Europe's top universities, with thirteen Nobel Prize winners. It
University buildings
The 1860 Leiden Observatory, after restoration (2013)
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 observatory (1860); the museum of antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden); and the ethnographical museum, of which P. F. von Siebold's Japanese collection was the nucleus (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.[
Places to visit
National Museum of Antiquities (Rijksmuseum van Oudheden)
The National Museum of Antiquities is housed in an old monumental building and ‘Begijnhof’. It is the Dutch centre for archaeology. A large part of the collection consists of objects related to ancient Egypt. Unique is the two thousand year old Egyptian temple in the central hall of the museum. Besides ancient Egypt, the museum covers the Middle East, the Classical world and the early history of the Netherlands. The entire collection consists of more than 80,000 objects, including statues of Roman emperors, Etruscan tomb finds and mummies.
Molenmuseum de Valk
Molen de Valk (The Falcon) is a tower mill, dating from 1743. The current mill succeeded a wooden mill, which was erected in 1667. The new, stone mill had to accommodate two families and had to be high enough to rise above the houses in its surroundings in order to catch enough wind. The ground floor and the additional building contained the kitchens, living areas and stable of the two houses. The sleeping rooms where located on the first and second floor, while the third served as storage room. The milling activities took place in the spaces located from the fourth floor (14 metres) to the top of the mill (29 metres).
Hortus Botanicus
The Hortus botanicus Leiden is the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands, built in 1590. The Hortus has been the green heart of Leiden for more than four centuries. Discover our special collections in the various parts of the garden and greenhouses and choose a walking route to give your visit a thematic touch.
National Diversity Center
We are Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Fascination for biodiversity, that is our foundation. In our award-winning museum (BankGiro Lottery Museum Prize 2020 and European Museum of the Year 2021) we show the beauty of nature. We map life on earth with our impressive collection, knowledge and data. Important, because biodiversity is essential for our future. We research nature to preserve biodiversity. In this way we contribute to solutions for major global issues surrounding the climate, living environment, food supply and medicines.
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave
The collections of Rijksmuseum Boerhaave reflect five centuries of scientific history in the Netherlands and show what science is all about: curiosity, courage, creativity and perseverance. This is reflected in our masterpieces, including the microscopes by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, the first pendulum clock by Christiaan Huygens, the world's oldest heliocentric planetarium, anatomical specimens and objects by Dutch Nobel Prize winners.
Wall Poems of Leiden
Over 120 poems can be found on the walls of Leiden, in a wide range of languages and scripts. On this website, you can read and listen to them. You can also find translations, background information, bike and walking routes and personal stories.
Leiden Wall Formulas
Leiden has a rich history of physics discoveries. For instance, Kamerlingh Onnes, Lorentz and Zeeman earned the Nobel Prize for their discoveries of superconductivity and the Zeeman effect, while Snell's law of refraction, discovered in the 1600's, has been incorporated in study books all over the world. Physicists Sense Jan van der Molen and Ivo van Vulpen, inspired by the wonderful wall poems of the TEGENBEELD foundation Leiden's inner city, have strived for famous formulas to flaunt on the walls. They came to realize that you can sense the beauty of a formula even without fully understanding it, much like we feel the weight of words in foreign poetry, even if we can’t read them. The artists of TEGENBEELD have wholeheartedly joined the effort, by designing and painting original illustrations for each formula. In the end, the project will entail about ten wall formulas, including the seven that are already in place. This project has inspired wall formula projects in other cities, including Utrecht. Go to www.utrechtsemuurformules.nl to see the Utrecht wall formulas.
Above excerpt is just a fraction of attractions to visit in Leiden. You could look at Tripadvisor's list to see a more complete list.
