Description of the attraction
The City Hall of Delft is a historic Renaissance-style building located on the Market Square, opposite the New Church.
The first town hall was built in Delft at the beginning of the 13th century, and it was located in the same place, on the market square. Then the town hall served not only as a meeting place for the city council, but also as a prison. It was here that the assassin of Prince William of Orange the Silent, Balthazar Gerard, was kept. From this building to our time, a massive stone tower has survived, which is now considered the oldest building in Delft. In 1536, a clock with four dials made by Delft masters was installed on the town hall tower. During the years of its existence, the town hall burned several times, the strongest fire happened in 1536, when the tower miraculously survived, but after the fire in 1618 it was decided to completely rebuild the building of the town hall.
The new town hall was erected by the famous Dutch architect Hendrik de Kaiser in just two years. A two-storey Renaissance building was built on the old foundation. In the 18th and 19th centuries, some renovations were carried out, but in the 20th century, restorers tried to return the town hall to its original form, in which Hendrik de Kaiser had conceived it.
The city council now sits here, and civil wedding ceremonies are held. In the halls of the town hall, you can see portraits of the Orange-Nassau dynasty, made by one of the first Dutch portrait painters, Michel van Mirevelt. The facade is decorated with a sculpture of Justice, and one of the halls is decorated with a fresco by Peter van Bronckhorst "Solomon's Court".
