Nederland - Leeuwarden, Oldehove

Oldehove was an artificial dwelling mound in the provice Frisia, which - together with Nijehove and Hoek - became the town of Leeuwarden in 1435. In the same year, Leeuwarden received city rights.

In the late 9th century a Catholic church - dedicated to Saint Vitus - was built on that mound. Construction of the adjoining Late Gothic tower began in 1529, after the citizens of Leeuwarden demanded a tower taller than the one in the city of Groningen, the Martinitoren. The original plan included attaching a new church to the tower, which would replace the old Saint Vitus church, but this was never realised. Master builder Jacob van Aken was unlucky from the start, because the tower began to sink during construction. In an effort to compensate for the tilt, it was decided to continue to build perpendicular on top of the leaning bottom. Because of this the tower is also curved. Construction was subsequently halted in 1533 and has never been resumed. The tower never reached its intended height of about 120 meters. In 1595–1596, the then derelict church was demolished, but the tower remains.

Although the Oldehove - as the tower is called - has never been used for special purposes, nevertheless it acquired a symbolic status. Inhabitants of Leeuwarden are proud of their Oldehove. “I feel rather homesick, when I cannot see the Oldehove”, is a well-known saying among the locals.

The Oldehove is 39 meters high; the number of steps to reach the top is 184. The angle of leaning is 1,99 meters. The Oldehove has been used as timepiece, storage space and observation post; nowadays the tower is used by the Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden (Historical Center Leeuwarden).