Old City Hall (The Hague)
Encyclopedia
The Old City Hall in The Hague
is a Renaissance style building on the Groenmarkt near the Grote Kerk
. It is the former seat of the city's government, and still today the place where residents hold their civic wedding ceremonies, and where the Royal family register their family births. Less noble families do this at the current city hall located in the large white building on the Kalvermarkt, near the Public library.
referred to The Hague as the most beautiful, richest, and biggest village of Europe. This sounds like great praise, but The Hague was not a walled town and therefore Guicciardini categorized it with the villages. For a village the city hall must have seemed quite grand. The fact that The Hague was thus vulnerable to attack makes it all the more amazing that the old City Hall survived the Protestant Revolution without damage to older ornaments and windows.
The interior of the building underwent several changes over time, including restoration of the interior decorations that ended in 1773. The statues on the facade depict "Faith", "Hope", "Love", "Strength", and "Justice". They were made by the Hague sculptor Jan Baptist Xavery
before 1742.
A large number of paintings and objects from The Hague's artists of the Confrerie Pictura
can be found inside the building.
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
is a Renaissance style building on the Groenmarkt near the Grote Kerk
Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk (The Hague)
Grote of Sint-Jacobskerk is a landmark Protestant church in The Hague, the Netherlands. The building is located on the Torenstraat, named for its high tower. Together with the Binnenhof, it is one of the oldest buildings in the Hague. Members of the House of Orange-Nassau have been baptised there...
. It is the former seat of the city's government, and still today the place where residents hold their civic wedding ceremonies, and where the Royal family register their family births. Less noble families do this at the current city hall located in the large white building on the Kalvermarkt, near the Public library.
History
The picturesque town hall (built in 1565 and restored and enlarged in 1882) contains a historical picture gallery. The building was considered very large and imposing in its day; just after it was built in 1566 Lodovico GuicciardiniLodovico Guicciardini
Lodovico Guicciardini was an Italian writer and merchant from Florence, but who lived primarily in Antwerp. He was the nephew of historian and diplomat Francesco Guicciardini.-Description of the Low Countries:...
referred to The Hague as the most beautiful, richest, and biggest village of Europe. This sounds like great praise, but The Hague was not a walled town and therefore Guicciardini categorized it with the villages. For a village the city hall must have seemed quite grand. The fact that The Hague was thus vulnerable to attack makes it all the more amazing that the old City Hall survived the Protestant Revolution without damage to older ornaments and windows.
The interior of the building underwent several changes over time, including restoration of the interior decorations that ended in 1773. The statues on the facade depict "Faith", "Hope", "Love", "Strength", and "Justice". They were made by the Hague sculptor Jan Baptist Xavery
Jan Baptist Xavery
Jan Baptist Xavery was a Flemish scuptor active in the Netherlands.-Biography:He was the son of the sculptor Albertus Xavery, who probably taught him before he entered the studio of Michiel van der Voort. There he stayed until moving to Vienna in 1719; from there he went to Italy, returning in...
before 1742.
A large number of paintings and objects from The Hague's artists of the Confrerie Pictura
Confrerie Pictura
The Confrerie Pictura was a more or less academic club of artists founded in 1656 in The Hague, by local art painters, who were unsatisfied by the Guild of Saint Luke there.-History:The guild of St...
can be found inside the building.