Culturele Woensdag

As we have been starting to learn about the theme sustainability in Urban Design we had our visit in Heerenveen, a village up in the north of Holland.
This week was the assignment to think and capture images about speed and slowness in culture and nature. Starting by taking pictures from my house to the train station.


Our first stop in Heerenveen was at the museum Belvedere.
Museum Belvédère is the outstanding museum for modern and contemporary art by Frisian artists and their kindred spirits in The Netherlands and abroad. It is beautifully situated in the Museum park, near the historic estate ‘Landgoed Oranjewoud.’ The museum café offers a splendid view of the Grand Canal, which is the axis of the new gardens.


The park
The museum park ‘Landgoed Oranjewoud’ was laid out in 2004 between the historic estate of Oranjewoud and the Belvédère Museum. The present estate dates from the nineteenth century.
The park is a modern version of the old baroque garden. The promenades on both sides of the grand canal have been restored and are flanked by parcels of copse, surrounded by water. It is an ecologically rich area, with various bank biotopes.

Details:
Freely accessible to the public.
Connected with foot- and cyclepaths of the Oranjewoud woods.

The estate
The history of the estate goes back to 1676, when Albertina Agnes of Oranje bought the Sickingastate, south-east of Heerenveen, and named it Oranjewoud. In the 18th century her daughter-in-law Henriëtte Amalia commissioned Daniël Marot to design a palace and garden in the French baroque style. Only two wings of this summer palace were built. The estate fell into decay in the 19th century It was demolished and sold in parts to Frisian noble families in 1813.. They had estates built in Oranjewoud with gardens in the English landscape style. The present Oranjewoud house is one of them.

Details:
Landgoed Oranjewoud is property of the Friesland Bank and not open to the public. But the footpaths, the museum park ‘Landgoed Oranjewoud’ and the Belvédère Museum offer a magnificent view of the estate and its English garden to walkers and cyclists. There are several historic country houses in Oranjewoud