De burcht, Leiden, The Netherlands.

I really like checking out a bit of local history especially when I have no idea about an area. I saw the castle on the google maps and some of the town guides. I thought it would be easy to see on the sky line but this fort wasn't that big, lucky we sort of just stumbled our way in the general direction until we found the main gate. I was excited there was no charge to get in.

This interesting structure was not as big or grand as I was expecting, no big tower or fancy hall, but just a circular structure built on a man made hill. I suppose The Netherlands is so flat they had to build it up instead of just building it up on some natural mountain or hill.

Leiden Castle is one of the oldest surviving examples of a castle in the Netherlands.

I believe it was an important defensive building helping the town hold out against over whelming odds at one stage but soon became military insignificance.

A few modern hand rails and stairs gave us good access to the walls and it looked like a youth musical group was setting up for a bit of a concert.

They say there was some sort of tower where the trees now are.

There were some good views of the surrounding town from the top of the walls.

A well was probably an important part of holding out for so long in a siege.

I can just imagine somebody trying to stay warm all night while on some sort of watch duty. Interesting to see the different bricks used in different renovations.

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