Plein or het Plein (; ) is a
town square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
in the
old city centre of
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
It is located adjacent to the
Binnenhof, the meeting place of the
States General of the Netherlands; the entrance to the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
can be found on Plein 2. The
Mauritshuis art museum is located on Plein 29.
Plein was originally a garden, forming a part of the
Binnenhof castle, residence of the
Counts of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...
. It was used to grow vegetables for the court. The garden was surrounded by a ring of canals and intersected by ditches.
As a town square, Plein was constructed in 1632 and was inspired by the
Place des Vosges in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 kmĀ² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
A statue of
William the Silent
William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...
, made by Dutch sculptor
Lodewyk Royer, was installed in the centre of the square in 1848.
References
External links
*
* (in Dutch)
Squares in The Hague
Tourist attractions in South Holland
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