Гаага, Нидерланды

The Hague. Architecture.

• In The Hague, there are buildings that broke new ground in Dutch history due to their social and political context, others for their visual aesthetics, as well as buildings with royal status. The skyline of the Hague and its surrounding areas is easy on the eye and some of the buildings are surprising. It’s easy to spot interesting buildings on any given day out in The Hague, whether modern skyscrapers or royal palaces. Here are some of them:

Escher Museum

Also known as “Escher in the Palace”, the Escher Museum is dedicated to the mind-bending artworks of the Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. The museum is located in the Lange Voorhout Palace, in which members of the royal family formerly lived.

The palace has the permanent collection of works by Escher on display, such as “Drawing” which depicts two hands drawing each other, “Waterfall”, featuring a waterfall flowing upwards and “Air/Sky and Water” where birds become fish and fish become birds. There are also rooms with optical illusions and other interactive displays to behold.

Escher’s art is celebrated for its way of manipulating visual perception and his work has been used in physics and psychology. This is one of the most intriguing of the Dutch museums .

“ Drawing”

Some other works in the Escher Museum:

“ Air/Sky and Water”

“ Waterfall”

“ Balcony”

“ Anita's Feast”

“ Hand with Reflecting Sphere”

• Huis ten Bosch
• Although Huis ten Bosch has had many owners over the years it has mainly remained within the Orange-Nassau family’s possession since its construction in 1645. King Willem-Alexander recently accounted that his plans to relocate to the palace in the near future and name it as his official residence.

• A few more photographs of the inside:

Mauritshuis

Before designing Amsterdam Royal Palace Dutch architect Jacob van Campen worked on a stately mansion in The Hague which is now known as Mauritishuis . This palatial building was completed in 1641 and was eventually converted in an art museum by the Dutch government which currently houses Johannes Vermeer’s masterpiece Girl with a Pearl Earring.

• Noordeinde Palace
• Noordeinde Palace was given to the Dutch royal family during the 19th century and has remained in their possession ever since. Although monarchs have traditionally live in the palace during winter, the current king Willem-Alexander uses it as a workplace.