Het Plein
![]() Het Plein in The Hague's city centre, with the statue of William the Silent in the middle | |||
![]() ![]() Location in the province of South Holland | |||
Type | Town square | ||
---|---|---|---|
Location | The Hague, Netherlands | ||
Coordinates | 52°04′48″N 4°18′57″E / 52.0800533°N 4.3157279°ECoordinates: 52°04′48″N 4°18′57″E / 52.0800533°N 4.3157279°E |
Het Plein (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌɦət ˈplɛin]; English: The Square) is a town square in the old city centre of The Hague in the Netherlands.
It is located adjacent to the Binnenhof, the meeting place of the States General of the Netherlands; the entrance to the House of Representatives can be found on Plein 2.[1] The Mauritshuis art museum is located on Plein 29.[2]
Het Plein was originally a garden, forming a part of the Binnenhof castle, residence of the Counts of Holland. It was used to grow vegetables for the court. The garden was surrounded by a ring of canals and intersected by ditches.[3] As a town square, Het Plein was constructed in 1632 and was inspired by the Place des Vosges in Paris.
A statue of William the Silent, made by Dutch sculptor Lodewyk Royer, was installed in the centre of the square in 1848.
References[]
- ^ "Adres en route" (in Dutch). House of Representatives. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ^ "Address and directions". Mauritshuis. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Plein: van kooltuin tot stadsplein". Geschiedenis van Den Haag (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 July 2014.
External links[]
Media related to Plein, The Hague at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website (in Dutch)
- Squares in The Hague
- Tourist attractions in South Holland
- Dutch building and structure stubs