Love is the fundament

In the very old days, up to 1700, rough guess, it was the custom to give a house a plaque or commemorative stone. This stone had all kinds of motives, artifacts, the owner’s occupation, religious themes and so on. This one in particular wants to say that love is the fundament of life or family life.

There is a group which works to maintain and restore the surviving stones. Restoring is to paint them back into the original colors since they were always brightly painted. I have the evidence that they actually do this. In June 2009 I pictured this same stone.. See the difference.

The stone before..

Very very old

Very very very old church door, imagon what this door has seen pass through!

Gouda market

A shot taken at the market of Gouda last saturday, the day was so warm you could almost wear your shorts. Some people actually did.

Market dog

On the market I saw this dog at a specific stand. The owner is very fond of his dog I noticed when I started a chat with him. He is called Pipi and comes from Poland. He is one of the main attractions of his stand...

St. Jan

This is an inside shot, it's a hughe church and so many things to picture that I decided not to do so. I wasn't officially allowed to take pictures, so I sneeky did a few.


This is a stand which was near the entrance with stuff they found during restaurations, a helmet, keys, pipes, coins, pottery, and at the bottom, ieeek a human skull and a 'upper leg' bone....

This was my last picture on my little trip to Gouda, tomorrow I will post pictures of a castle which is close to Woerden.

Stained Glass

This is the detail of a window, it says the coronation of Anna van Buuren, at least I think, I am not sure who the character is, I enlarged the image, and it says Margarita of Austria, ruler over Germania something-ish. Must have been important long ago.

The details are very nice; I have uploaded a high resolution.

Stained Glass

The St. Jan has a extraordinary collection of stained glass windows. Some windows survived the reformation, to good to destroy, that’s quite special, considering almost all Catholic expressions were removed those days.
It is beautiful, but to be honest, I didn't know where to look. There are so many details and so many impressions that it is like it's there and at the same time isn't captured & mapped by your brain. Something like that. I took one shot of something I recognized from the history lessons, which I will post tomorrow.


The St. Jan has a website where you can check out more.

Enjoying the sun

This was a nice shot, if you don't have a balcony...

St.Jan

A shot of the church (partly then) the church is so big I couldn't capture it in one shot. The most notable thing of the St. Jan is that it's 'breaths' the centuries.
The stained glass windows are very impressive.

St Jan

On my way to the entrance of the St. Jan, I passed by this little 'pass way'? It's very peaceful and quiet.

Sint Jan

The next stop is the Saint John of Sint Jan. A magnificent church which so much history, you just feel it when you enter the building. This is a picture from the (small) tower.

House

The backside of a house, I like this picture for it's simpleness.

Bikes

I am still visiting Gouda, and post today a picture of a very common site for me/ us who live in Holland, a canal with lots of bikes (not common is the good wheater).

Shop sign

Above the entrance is the 'shop sign' of the tabacco store. An indian with a pipe, smoking must have been once the new thing to do imported from the colonies.

Museum de Monriaan

This picture is of museum de Monriaan. It is a building from 1617 and originated as a grocery store, after that it became a sugar refinery. In the 1700's it became a tabacco store and remained that until in 1965 when it became a museum. The shop's interior from 1680 is still in place. The building leans forward on purpose, to prevent the rain dripping down via the façade.

Amazing, but the wheater is too good to go to a museum!

Old House

Cool old house, I have no special story to tell about it, besides that is looks like a house where it is a pleasure to live.... If you like to live in old town and not having a place to park your car, then that is.

Entrance gate from 1614

Just another street with a house with an entrance gate from 1614..... nothing special really.....

Ceramist

Besides the museum garden is a cermist who makes real interesting art; cities which grow in the air..


He didn't looked too friendly so I took a from the side of the entrance so he couldn't see me.

The sixth brick

This is the sixth brick, I think the theme is bible study. A group of people are reading, one is probably a teacher pointing to the sky and the others are responding.
It indicates one of the changes of the Reformation, people were allowed to learn to read and become individuals, making independent decisions...

Or it simply is a school setting, maybe an orphanage theme, boys and girls are not sitting together..



Located in the museum garden.

Gods Hand

Julie reminded me I promised 6 bricks.... :) Here is the 5th, this brick says 'Gods Mild Hand' it have been created based on a personal religious experience. Or it's a common theme but I don't know actually, I have never seen it before.