Entrance door

A grand entrance door of a house in the city of Deventer.

A small square

.. in Deventer.

Yellow and blue

This former warehouse sells presents and home accessories.

Door and decoration

This wonderful piece was above a entrance door.

According to the house numbers, quite a lot of different people live behind this door..   It must nice and light in the entrance hall with those windows, don't you think?

The brushes shop

As the guided city walk in Deventer was on a Saturday, a visit to the famous Deventer brushes shop at the Menstraat was included - it has opening hours on Saturdays only, and occasionally on Sundays too. The shop window shows part of the merchandise...

 ... that consists of more than 150 different kinds of brushes and brooms.

Founded in 1860, it is the oldest shop of Deventer. Until the 1950s the brushes and brooms were manufactured in a workplace behind the shop, but after a fire only the shop was left - and has been in business since today. The lady behind the counter was happy to tell us all about it!

An alleyway

in Deventer.

The black cat

This gable stone picturing a black cat (in old Dutch:  D'SWARTE CAT)  was on one of the monumental buildings at the Korte Assenstraat in Deventer.

Deventer city hall

The facade of the Deventer city hall, seen here from the courtyard, shows 2,264 unique finger prints of 2,264 inhabitants of Deventer. Moulded in aluminium they form an eye catching wall.

It makes a unique view I think, and it's a nice idea to express the city's engagement to its citizens.

Deventer manhole cover

To be honest I had never taken much notice of the manhole covers during earlier visits to Deventer, but they are worth having a closer look at!
Can you see what it says on the first line? Once you figured that out, see how the letters mix and turn until the person standing across you can do the same ..

Enjoy your Saturday :)

Door

The old city of Deventer is filled with treasures like this. Wouldn't it be something to arrive at your front door..

..and 2 mocking faces watch you while you search for your key?  ;)

Watching you

Stern eyes watch you from above..

..next to an entrance. Photo taken in Deventer.

Bicycle shed sign

This monumental building at Brink no 16 in Deventer is nowadays used by an organisation called "KunstaanZ", who organises exhibitions with contemporary art.

A large and colourful sign above the entrance catches the eye though; on which a gentleman and his bicycle tell that this was once the location for a 'Rijwielstalling' - which in formal Dutch means 'bicycle shed'.

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Umbrellas

Umbrellas and dark skies above the city of Deventer last Saturday, though very little rain! We felt lucky to have so much sunshine :)

A pig on a barrel

Last Saturday we enjoyed taking part in a guided tour through the beautiful and historical city of Deventer. This gable stone on one of the houses at the Assenstraat, picturing a pig on a barrel, was made by Dutch sculptor Anton Geerlings in 1984, so it's actually not that old. The text underneath the barrel ("DAT REGENVERCKEN") refers to the name this building had in former days, because of a deep well that used to be in the back garden.
In old Dutch the word "vercken" means 'large well' or 'large water well', and "regen" is Dutch for 'rain'.

Spot for lunch

One of many places to enjoy coffee and/or lunch in the city centre of Deventer.

Louise

A pretty and elegant sign from the Smedenstraat in the city centre of Deventer.

"Louise" is a ladies' fashion store. I'm linking to signs, signs.

River view

View on the river IJssel from the quay in Deventer, with the railway bridge in the background.

Huys Ricmode

Huys Ricmode (Ricmode House) originally dates from 1612 and is located at the Rijkmanstraat in Deventer. It is a national heritage site. The detached home has 4 floors and is a former warehouse. If you like to see more, Huys Ricmode can be found on Facebook.

Deventer streetview

One more from the old city centre of Deventer.

Painting blue

Above the entrance of a building at the Graven in Deventer is this sign of 2 dark blue hands and a blue cloth. (Once) a launderette maybe? I had no idea..

Back home I googled and learned that the sign pictures the hands and the profession of 'Blauwverver Barthold van Ophuijsen'. This 'bluepainter' named Barthold van Ophuijsen lived here around 1600. His profession was painting people's clothes blue, a deep dark blue until they almost turned black. His customers were mainly people who were in mourning. Being a widower or widow meant wearing dark clothes for a long period, and having your clothes painted dark blue or black obviously costed a lot less than buying new clothes.

I'm linking to signs, signs.