De Brink, Overijssel Province, The Netherlands

5Kentishtownboy 5:00 PM Apr 7, 2014

The gems of trading: A Hanseatic City of Delight
Deventer a city on the river Issel that flows into the old Zuider Zee was founded in 768 by an English evangelist named Lebuinus. On the site of his wooden church stands a brick and stone cathedral of medieval splendor whose massive brick built tower dominates the tightly wedged streets where every house is a delight for any visitors eye. On the southern side of the city lays De Brink, the largest open air market in Europe. When empty its like a parade ground, except that the manoeuvre's are for trade. This is the secret of the city. Where for hundreds of years it helped to unify a medley of European states, large and small. Pay a visit to the old Weigh-House, whose brick built towers and turrets slope at all angles and look as if they will fall onto the artistically laid out flower market. Here you will find the History Museum and learn of how this city became a centre of social democracy 600 years ago. For me guided tours means standing around too long. Take a map. Seek your own path. The citizens are very helpful. Its in their genes. Many small shops with old world objects. Good pubs and places to eat. Albert Schweitzer made the city his home. Today in the narrow Wal Street 25,000 people visit an annual Charles Dickens Festival. Now that's a surprise and I thought he was a fellow Londoner, a cockney who was a good newspaper reporter and story teller but who, as the film, ''The Invisible Woman" would have us believe that he was a very naughty boy where his wife and ladies of pleasure was concerned. But then some would say that this can also be seen as a delight of living. A city not to be missed.

4Robert O 5:00 PM Oct 4, 2022

Lively and cosy Deventer city square
Very pleasant square with a large variety of historic buildings dating from the 1500s to art-nouveau early 20th century. Of course the Waag (weighing house) from 1528 stands out. Unlike Rotterdam or Arnhem the city escaped major destruction during WOII. With a population of just over 100,000 inhabitants, Deventer has kept its laid back Dutch style ambiance and does not feel as 'cosmopolitanized' as the major cities in the west of the Netherlands. Biggest improvement: the square is car free since 1993. So lots of terraces and space except for market days.