It was a nice morning so we decided to go to Utrecht. We wanted to take minor
roads but Nuvi insisted on taking us back to the motorway. The scenery on the minor roads is much nicer and I had hoped to get some pictures. This is what the area was like.
One of the huge number of lifting bridges.
Negotiating Utrecht was horrendous, and we found ourselves TWICE going the wrong way on the same one-way street! It's amazing that I am alive to tell the tale. We ended up giving up and went to Amersfoort instead. It was much easier to get parking and to get around. We had lunch in the square with the tower and then did a tour around. Amersfoort is known for its beers.
This is the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren - The Tower of Our Lady. It is an eye-catching monument in Amersfoort and the second highest church tower in the Netherlands. The miracle of Amersfoort was the reason for its construction.
I have no idea why it has jugs hanging from the ceiling.
In December 1444 a young girl came to Amersfoort to enter the convent of St. Agnes. She brought with her a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary but was too embarrassed to bring it into the convent so she threw it into the canal. A few days later a pious woman had a dream in which she was ordered to fish the statue out of the canal. She took it home and lit some candles to discover later that the candles were burning without getting any shorter. She consulted her confessor who took the statue tpo the Our Lady Chapel where miracles continued. News spread about the miracles and hundreds of people made a pilgrimage to the Virgin of Amersfoort and made offerings. In a dream the Reverend Mother of St. Agnes convent was ordered to spend the offerings on the construction of a church and tower.
I love the design of these buildings.
The Koppelpoort Gate. This unique land and water gate (below) dates from around 1400 and is part of the city's second set of surrounding walls. The gate has largely been preserved in its original state.
St Joriskerk is the largest church in Amersfoort (St. George's Church) and sits in the main square - the Hof above. A few times a day about 2 minutes after the clock has struck the hour, the figure of St. George on horseback slaying the dragon emerges from the bell tower at the front of the church. We timed our visit well!
I loved the exhibition of paintings
The remains of an ancient fresco.
One of the huge number of lifting bridges.
Negotiating Utrecht was horrendous, and we found ourselves TWICE going the wrong way on the same one-way street! It's amazing that I am alive to tell the tale. We ended up giving up and went to Amersfoort instead. It was much easier to get parking and to get around. We had lunch in the square with the tower and then did a tour around. Amersfoort is known for its beers.
This is the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren - The Tower of Our Lady. It is an eye-catching monument in Amersfoort and the second highest church tower in the Netherlands. The miracle of Amersfoort was the reason for its construction.
I have no idea why it has jugs hanging from the ceiling.
I love the design of these buildings.
The Koppelpoort Gate. This unique land and water gate (below) dates from around 1400 and is part of the city's second set of surrounding walls. The gate has largely been preserved in its original state.
St Joriskerk is the largest church in Amersfoort (St. George's Church) and sits in the main square - the Hof above. A few times a day about 2 minutes after the clock has struck the hour, the figure of St. George on horseback slaying the dragon emerges from the bell tower at the front of the church. We timed our visit well!
The remains of an ancient fresco.
We got back to car and went to Kamp Amersfoort which was a concentration camp during the second world war. Between 1941 and 1945 approximately 37,000 prisoners, mostly political prisoners, were incarcerated for varying lengths of time, in this camp, which served as both a transit camp and prison camp under the direct command of the SS. After the was people wanted to forget as quickly as possible the horrors of the war and the camp was completely dismantled. In 2004 a modest memorial was completed symbolising the resurrection of the memories from oblivion. Remember, reflect and learn is its motto. In the pavillion there are photographs, objects, drawings, a scale model of the camp as well as a piece of wall on which as prisoner had done a painting.
Prisoners were pinned to this stake.
The Stone Man - a statue of a prisoner facing the firing squad.
It was a strangely silent place!
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