Kijkduin sea aquarium

From the eight vaults inside Fortress Kijkduin (see also yesterday's post), two are now set up as a sea aquarium. Being there it was so hard to imagine that once soldiers resided here, that there was a shooting gallery, a gun powder room, and everything that was needed in a war..

Visitors walk through a 12 m long underwater tunnel, which was really wonderful. The aquarium, which opened in 1996, is entirely focused on life in the North Sea, so all fish are "local".

Fortress Kijkduin

 

We visited Fortress Kijkduin last weekend, located in the dunes of Huisduinen just south of the village of Den Helder. After Napoleon visited Den Helder in 1811 he became aware of the strategic importancy of the town, and wanted to create a big marine harbour here. The fortress in its original form was built in his command.

Nowadays the fortress is a museum, and learning about the history of the fortress and its residents made it an interesting visit. It also played a big role during WW2. The first photo was taken wandering through one of the narrower vaults which had blue lights, and the second photo shows one of the fortress entrances.