Het Plein

Het Plein

Het Plein in The Hague's city centre, with the statue of William the Silent in the middle
Type Town square
Location The Hague, Netherlands
Coordinates 52°04′12″N 4°18′58″E / 52.07°N 4.316°E / 52.07; 4.316Coordinates: 52°04′12″N 4°18′58″E / 52.07°N 4.316°E / 52.07; 4.316

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

  1. ↑ "Adres en route" (in Dutch). House of Representatives. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  2. ↑ "Address and directions". Mauritshuis. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Plein: van kooltuin tot stadsplein". Geschiedenis van Den Haag (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 July 2014.


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