A Visit to Amersfoort – As part of my plan to go everywhere and see everything in The Netherlands, yesterday I went to to visit Amersfoort. I had always thought that Amersfoort is a smallish walled village from the photos I had seen. So when I looked in my guide book to research the town, I was surprised to see the population is 155,000 people. I thought that it must be an error. It isn’t…
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A lovely town, but not so little anymore…
Amersfoort is indeed a beautiful little town in the ancient centre. It has charming canals and cobbled streets. It is very picturesque. And it is bigger than I thought. All around the centre are large modern office buildings. It is a town that has kept and preserved the best of the past and has a living, beating modern side too. In the 1970’s the government decided that Amersfoort would be a ‘growth’ town and indeed the population doubled since then.
Mondriaanhuis
One of my reasons to visit was to see the Mondriaanhuis. This is where the artist was born and spent much of his early life. It is a compact museum, but really fascinating. You can see all about his background and the influences from his family. His stern father and his artistic uncle that trained him to hone his painting skills.
You really get an insight into the artist and that he persevered with his abstract creations even when no one was buying them. He was living in Paris for a long time and the influences of other artists greatly shaped his beliefs and creativeness. It was only later in his life with exhibitions in New York that recognition for his unique abstract style grew. He then became world famous. The museum has some amazing audio visual installations that showcase Mondriaan’s works.
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Conclusion – A Visit to Amersfoort
Amersfoort is a lovely town to visit. The centre is extremely beautiful. It is calm and easy to walk around. Many people were doing boats tours around the town canals. There is a lively shopping area and lots of great bars and restaurants. It is only 30 minutes away from Amsterdam by train. I am very glad I went to check it out and I will certainly be back again. Here are some images from my visit.
See more visits in The Netherlands in our blogs section.
