The Castle Muiderslot

Today me and Beer made our way to Muiderslot, about a half an hour east of Amsterdam. This is in the small town of Muiden.. and by small I mean very small.. like you can see the other side of town from one end small.. or only one main road small. It was cool beacuse this canal ran through the middle, and there's only one bridge over it which they close... leading to countless drivers having to pull a U-Turn on the small european street.

Anyways.. we spent most of the time there at the castle..


Some History:

The current Muiderslot was built on the foundation of the razed castle, from 1370 to 1386. Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, lived there during his time as governor of the Netherlands and Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, a poet, playwright and historian created an artistic renaissance based in the castle from 1613 to 1647. The facade of Muiderslot is forbidding, but the castle shows strong French influence in its drum towers and rectangular layout. A covered walkway runs the length of the curtain wall. A characteristic of the medieval fortress residence is the square plan where the living quarters surround an inner court. Muiderlot was an exception to the simplicity of most Dutch castles. In the sixteenth century Renaissance style influenced the rebuilding with shell-and-mask motifs, gables and pilasters added on. This castle appeared after 1250, and it is believed that it was introduced by the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land. (Quoted from here)

This castle was surrounded by a small moat, then a dyke and then acres and acres of farmland and a lake on one side.. Got a lot of nice shots of the area.. here's one:

posted by Steve @ 4/02/2006 05:32:00 PM