The Hague Arcade

This is The Hague's Arcade (De Passage in Dutch). Built between 1882 and 1885 it is the oldest shopping arcade in The Netherlands, and an official UNESCO monument. Inside are passageways, glass atria, pedestrian bridges, and of course a number of boutique stores.

Inside Den Haag Centraal railway station

Isn´t this view, standing inside the new The Hague railway station, magnificent? The glass roof construction contains 220 diamant-shaped windows sized 12x8 metres (39.4x26.2 ft) each, and from what I found on the internet in The Hague they are commonly referred to as "wybertjes".

Outside Den Haag Centraal railway station

Arriving at "Den Haag Centraal". The brand-new main railway station of The Hague opened in February of this year after almost 5 years of renovation works. The original train station dates from 1870, it was called 'Den Haag Rhijnspoor'. Many things have changed since then!

Lots of glass on all sides, which makes it possible to look right through to the sky and see the sun reflect. Tomorrow I'll show you a photo taken inside.

I'm linking to Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.

Royal?

Photo taken through the same window of the Mauritshuis as the first photo from yesterdays post, only a little to the left. These chimneys on the buildings of the Binnenhof have a kind of royal touch, don´t you think?

The Dutch Prime Minister's office

From inside the Mauritshuis in The Hague you have a direct view to the working office of our Prime Minister Mark Rutte (or minister president as we say in Dutch). He has been the Prime Minister since October 2010, and he is the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). This office is known as "Het Torentje" (literally: "The Little Tower"), the small octagonal building is located at at the edge of the Binnenhof, a complex of parliament buildings.
From this side it looks as if some windows have been removed, maybe for some privacy?

The Little Tower dates from the first half of the 14th century and looks out at a pond called the Hofvijver.
For more info and a few photos from inside Het Torentje click HERE.

Rembrandt self-portrait

Dutch painter and etcher Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) is considered one of the greatest painters in European art and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth that historians call the Dutch Golden Age.
Having achieved youthful success as a portrait painter, Rembrandt's later years were marked by personal tragedy and financial hardships. Yet his reputation as an artist remained high, and for 20 years he taught many important Dutch painters. (from Wikipedia, read more HERE)

He painted this self-portrait in the same year he died, in 1669. The painting is part of the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1947.

Mauritshuis

 On my to-do list for a long time was a visit to the Mauritshuis in The Hague. This art museum houses the Royal Cabinet of Paintings, which are mostly works from the Dutch Golden Age, from painters such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, and others. The Mauritshuis was built between 1636 and 1641, and was designed by Dutch architects Jacob van Campen and Pieter Post. The two-storey building is strictly symmetrical.

Originally, the building was the residence of count John Maurice of Nassau. It is now the property of the government of the Netherlands and is listed in the top 100 Dutch heritage sites.
In 1822 the Mauritshuis was opened to the public, so it has been a museum for almost 2 centuries now!

City architecture

Modern architecture in The Hague, near the main train station. From our visit yesterday!