Description of the attraction
There are many different parks in The Hague, but the most beautiful is still the park of the Clingendale estate. The history of the estate, and therefore the park, goes back over 500 years. At the beginning of the 17th century, a mansion was built here and a garden was laid out in the classical French style. The estate changed owners several times, however, the gardens continued to be carefully looked after. Now the building belongs to the municipality of The Hague and houses the Institute of International Relations. Access to the estate is open all year round.
The manor garden consists of several parts. There is a Dutch garden, laid out in 1915 by the Duchess Marguerite van Brinen. However, the Japanese Garden of Clingendale is much more famous. It was also founded at the beginning of the 20th century, and the Duchess, also known as Lady Daisy, spent more than one year on its arrangement. She traveled to Japan many times, bringing back decorative lanterns, sculptures and, of course, plants for her garden. This is the first Japanese-style garden in the Netherlands. There is a moss garden, walkways thrown over streams, and a garden pavilion for solitary meditation. The garden and its plants require an extremely careful attitude, which is why the Japanese garden is open to the public only from April 30 to mid-June.
Lady Daisy was passionate about dogs, and her pets, who had died of old age, were buried in the park under a large linden tree. At one time, there were even monuments on their graves, but then the duchess ordered them to be thrown to the ground, because they could serve as a hiding place for snipers.
