Jaap van 't Veen's photos

Windmill De Put is named after miller Jan Jansz. Put, owner of the mill that was located on this spot in the 17th century. The original mill dates from 1619, and burned down in 1640. After the wooden flour mill was rebuilt afterwards, it had to make way in 1729 for a stone tower mill. This mill was demolished in 1817. Archaeologists discovered the foundations of the octagonal mill in 1982. The idea was put forward to build a post mill on the old bastion. This idea was finally realized five years later and in 1987 the cormill was rebuild on the former ramparts of the city of Leiden. De Put is located nearby the Rembrandtbrug and Rembrandtplein . It is believed that the original mill once was operated by the father of the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, who was born nearby the windmill. Normally the mill is open on Saturdays and is still functioning.

Leiden town hall is located on the Breestraat as early as the Middle Ages. In 1595/96 it was given a new facade in Renaissance style. The city government wanted to show the city's new prosperity. In 1574 Leiden had been besieged by the Spanish. Many citizens died of hunger and plague. Nonetheless Leiden withstood the siege. The city was relieved on 3 October 1574. Several parts of the town hall facade commemorate this Siege and Relief of Leiden. The town hall was largely lost during a devastating fire in 1929. The façade was rebuilt, but the building behind was completely rebuilt in 1932. Nowadays, Leiden town hal is mainly used as a wedding venue. However, city councillors still regularly reside in Leiden town hall.

The Morspoort was built in 1669 as Leiden expanded to the west. This gate replaced a wooden gate from 1611. The stone gate was built in a Dutch Renaissance style common for the time. It is one of the eight original city gates the city once had. The other gates were demolished in the 19th century. The gate with its octagonal dome was a prison for a long time. Next to the gate was a field where the executed were hanged. The gate was named after the marshy area - The Morsch - on the outskirts of Leiden. The Morspoort and the nearby bridge are a Dutch National Monument.

The Pieterskerk - the oldest parish church of Leiden - is a late Gothic church. In 1121 the church was consecrated a court chapel for the Counts of Holland. The building was dedicated to the apostle Peter The current church took approximately 180 years to build, starting in 1390. The church was a catholic church, but during the so called beeldenstorm (attack on the images or statues) in the year of 1566 Calvinists attacked the church to destroy Catholic choir books, statues, and an altarpiece. Shortly after, the church was closed prior to being converted into a Protestant church. The original windows were destroyed in a gunpowder explosion in 1807. The windows were boarded up, and it wasn't until 1880 that a large-scale restoration took place. The Pieterskerk used to have a tower, eventually reaching 110 meters (including the 35-meter-tall wooden spire). It collapsed in 1512, but the tower was not restored and the church remains towerless. Before 1811 many prominent people were buried in the Pieterskerk, such as the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, scientist Herman Boerhaave, painter Jan Steen, John Robinson, pastor of the "Pilgrim Fathers" and Rembrandt’s parents. The church was deconsecrated in 1971 and since 1975 has been managed by a foundation and is used for a wide range of events. It is also a ‘kind of a nuseum’ and can be visited for a small fee. (To be honest, we were not very impressed by the interior. The huge hall makes a rather empty impression and there is not very much to see. Add to that the choir was full of furniture from the café next door. Then again, the beautiful Church Trustees Room - of which we saw a picture in the church - cannot be visited. All in all: rather disappointing)

Huys te Warmont (Warmont House) is a medieval fortified farmhouse, which originally was built in the 14th century, but destroyed by Spanish troops in 1573 during the Eighty Years' War. Around 1600, the castle was rebuilt and surrounded by orchards, meadows and gardens. For a long time, this ‘castle’ was the seat of the lords and ladies of Warmond. From here they ruled the village. Warmond was a high lordship, which meant that the lords and ladies of Warmond could rule in their own territory more or less as independent princes. Huys te Warmont was the home of the lords of Warmond. Although it dates from the Middle Ages, in its present form it is a late 18th century manor house. The Van den Woude family inhabited the house from about 1300 to 1525. In the 16th century, the house passed to the Van Duvenvoorde family, who later called themselves “Van Wassenaar”. The house is currently privately inhabited and is not open to the public. The park- with beautiful old trees - surrounding the house is a nice walking area and is free to enter.

The country estate Oud-Poelgeest (officially Kasteel Oud-Poelgeest) was built in 1668 in the Dutch Neoclassical style on the foundations of the medieval castle Alkemade. This castle was destroyed by Spanish troops in 1574. The well-known humanist and physician Herman Boerhaave lived here between 1724 and 1738. He grew plants at Oud-Poelgeest for which there was no room in the botanical garden of Leiden University. In the 19th century, four towers were built on the square house - making it look more like a castle - along with the coach house. The grounds also contain a gardener's house, a neo-Gothic chapel and a well dating from 1550. These building and the surrounding park are protected as a Dutch national monument. Today, the coach house is a hotel-restaurant. The castle is used as a conference centre

October 2023 marked the 250th anniversary of the “Leumolen” (Leu Mill); counting from the time of its rebuilding in 1773. The mill is also known as St. Ursula's Mill. There had been a mill at this location on the Leubeek for much longer. In 1461, a will first mentioned the “Leumolen” under the name “Molen aan de Leu”. It is possible that the mill had existed even much longer, with a charter mentioning a mill in Nunhem as early as the 13th century. The water mill from 1461 no longer exists; the loam mill was rebuilt in brick in the period 1771-1775. An oil mill was added to the existing grain mill. The mill house was completed in 1773, and the oil mill in 1775. A major change to the mill took place in 1911 when the water wheel was replaced by a turbine. In 1956, “Staatsbosbeheer” - a Dutch government organisation for forestry and management of nature reserves - bought the water mill. During a restoration in 1960-1961, the water wheel returned. After this restoration, only the grain mill was still in operation, but in 2008 the oil mill was also restored. The “Leumolen” is one of six water-powered oil mills in the Netherlands and the only one to house a flour mill and an oil mill under one roof.

The Romanesque Sint-Servaasbasiliek (Basilica of Saint Servatius) is built on Saint Servatius - an Armenian missionary who died in Maasticht in the year of 384 -gravesite. It is likely that the current building is the 4th iteration of churches on this site. The first church was a small memorial chapel, which was replaced by a larger church. Next, a pilgrim church was built. Finally, the current church was built between the 11th and 12th centuries. The Sint-Servaasbasiliek is considered being the oldest still standing church in the Netherlands. The large, triple-nave transept basilica was built largely in Romanesque style, using millstone grit and marl. The church building serves as a parish church of the Roman Catholic St. Servatius parish and deanery church of Maastricht. Since 1985, the church has held the title of minor basilica. The church, the cloisters, and the treasure room are open to the public and can be visited.

The Sint-Servaaskapel (Saint Servatius Chapel) is a pigrimage chapel. The cahpel is dedicated to Saint Servatius and is located on a ‘hill’ (the Servaasberg) on the edge of the Leudal. A Servaas chapel at this site was first mentioned in 1744, when it was shown on a map. The chapel was restored in 1877, but the current, neo-Gothic chapel was built in 1891. The chapel was consecrated in 1892. The latest restoration took place in 1994. Behind the chapel is the Saint Servatius well that is said to have been dug by the saint himself in order to use the well, which is 15 meters above the level of the stream, to baptize the first local Christians.

In 1088 in Patmos, St. Christodoulos the Latrinos (a gifted and educated monk) was granted funds by the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, to establish a monastery in honor of Saint John the Theologian. In 1091, Christodoulos began the construction of the monastery over the ruins of a 4th-century basilica, also dedicated to Saint John. The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian, built on top of Chora, dominates the whole island and looks like a Byzantine castle. It is surrounded by an irregular rectangular defensive enclosure, dating from the late 11th century until the 17th. Among other buildings the katholikon and cells have been preserved since the Byzantine period. The monastery’s walls are over 15 meters high, its length from north to south is 53 meters and from east to west 70 meters. The library of the monastery and the rich collection of relics is considered really famous, the most important examples of which can be admired in the sacristy. In 1999, the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian was declared a “World Heritage Monument” by UNESCO, along with the Holy Cave of the Apocalypse. As my wife's ancestors lived on Patmos in the 18th century, we have visited the island a couple of times. Since we have an original letter from one of the abbots, we also visited the monastery, hoping for additional information. Unfortunately, nothing was found there at such short notice.

Patmos is inhabited since 3000 BC, but the identity of its first inhabitants is still unknown. Finds have excavated various buildings, cemeteries, fortresses, and evidence of an ancient acropolis, testifying the existence of a densely populated area in the past. Patmos declined when the Romans conquered it. It was used as a place of exile for convicts. This is how Apostle John came to Patmos. He conveyed the inhabitants to Christianity and wrote the Book of Revelation, the Apocalypse. Patmos then became a place of worshipping and pilgrimage and actually. During the Byzantine times, the inhabitants of Patmos built a Grand Royal Basilica in honor of Saint John. During the Arab raids from the 6th to the 9th century the basilica was destroyed. In 1101 the construction of the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian started. The fame of the monastery grew and a settlement started to expend around it. During the end of the 12th century, the island of Patmos was transformed into a large commercial center. In 1522, the Turks came to the island; after a while, they left the island, which they just forced to pay some taxes. When the Turkish-Venetian Wars ended, tranquillity returned to Patmos and the island flourished, becoming once again an important commercial center. Massive fortifications were built around the monastery as a protection from the pirates. In 1655, Patmos was governed by the monks and prospered again. Its growth stopped in 1659, when the Venetians, conquered and destroyed the island of Patmos. With shipping, commerce and the efforts of the inhabitants, Patmos regained its lost nobility, glamour and prosperity. The Russians conquered the island in 1770, after the Turkish-Venetian War. The Greek Revolution started in 1821 and managed to gain the independence of Greece in 1832. The treaty signed in London did not include the islands of the Dodecanese as part of the newly built Greek State and therefore fell again under Turkish occupation. The Italians occupied all the islands of the Dodecanese in 1912, with of course Patmos, and remained there until 1943, when the Germans took over the island. In 1945, the Germans left and the island of Patmos remained autonomous until 1948 when it joined the rest of independent Greece with the rest of the Dodecanese Islands. In 1981, Greece declared Patmos a “Sacred Island'', and in 1999 UNESCO included The Historic Centre (Chora) with the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse in its World Heritage Site List. Patmos is also part of the COESIMA network, as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites in Europe.

The nunnery of Agia Moni is located a couple of kilometers outside the town of Nafplion. The katholikon (= main church) is dating back to the middle of the 12th century. It is one of the most important churches of the middle Byzantine period in Greece. According to its foundation inscription the church was built with donations of the bishop of Argos and Nafplion, who had constructed it in the year of 1149. The church is mainly of architectural interest as the murals and decorations have not survived. Apart from the church, the monastery complex consists of small chapels and housing and living quarters for the nuns, who still life here. The church is dedicated to Zoodochos (= “Source of life”). Just outside the nunnery one can find the monastic spring, which is famous for its water.

The stone forest nearby Monodendri is one of the most remarkablke places in Greece. Layers of natural rock formations shaped like trees at an altitude of 1.500 meters. Geomorphs that resulted from the disintregation and erosion of limestone in an alpine environment, located in a normal forest of oaks and maples. It took thousands and thousands of years to cause this erosion and disintregation of the slabs. Nowadays these towering limestone formations create a real natural ‘artwork’.

Pythagorion is one the most picturesque villages on the island of Samos. It is named after the famous philosopher and scientist Pythagoras. Pythagorion has a beautiful port where many beautiful old sailing ships, fishing boats and ferries to other islands moor. This harbour is maybe one of the oldest ports in the Mediterranean sea. The town with its traditional old houses with red-tiled roofs is built amphitheatrically around the bay, where the ancient town of the island was found during excavations..

The new Church of St George was built in 1903-1905, after the old church - dating back to the year of 1712 -with the same name was demolished. Although rather ‘young’ the church has a beautiful interior with remarkable pillars, some chandeliers and a woodcarved iconostase. The Church of St. George was built according to the standards of the Cathedral of Athens, with voluntary work of craftsmen of the village, while the basic cost of the construction was covered by the contributions of people coming from Pyrsogianni from all over the world.

On our car journey from Molyvdoskepastos - close to the Albanian border - to Konitsa, we found ourselves on a very narrow road through a pristine stretch of nature. It was impossible to turn around and we had to drive on to the very tiny hamlet of Pogoniskos with just a couple of inhabitants. That had the advantage of taking us past a countless number of 'carpets' of wild flowers in all sorts of colours and shapes (see PiPs). The valley was enclosed by rugged cliffs.

Syrrako is a beautiful and picturesque village, which impresses with its grey stone houses that are perched on a steep slope of Mount Peristeri on an altitude of 1.200 meters. The ‘fairytale’village – located in the heart of the Tzoumerka region - is declared to be a traditional settlement. The village offers stone houses with slate roofs, cobbled alleys, churches, watermills, stone fountains, which are creations of renowed craftsmen. Syrrako was built by Greek Vlach speakers in the 15th century. Around the year of 1480 the village along with other villages in the area, went under the Ottoman domination but managed to secure a privileged tax treatment and some kind of autonomy. Syrrako and neighboutring Kalarrytes were the only villages of Epirus that took part in the Greek Revolution from the first years. During that period, the village was looted and burnt down by the Turks and the inhabitants abandoned it, trying to save their lives. They returned in the year 1825 and rebuilt Syrrako.

The history of the Monastery of Molyvdoskepastos goes back in the Byzantine era and was originally built in the 7th century. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Greece. Its founder was the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV Pogonatos. The monastery was renovated in the 14th century by Andronikos Komnenos Doukas Palaiologos. The monastery owes its name from the lead roof it once had: i>molivdoskepasti means “with a roof of lead”. The lead was stolen by Turks to make bullets and was then replaced by slates. The katholikon (main church) belongs to a complex architectural style and was built in three phases. The original church with three vaults and a dome, was the first to built (11th and 12th century). The middle cross vaulted section was added at the end of the 13th century and in the beginning of the 14th century. Finally, an open narthex was added in the year of 1521 by the inhabitants of a nearby village. The interior of the church is decorated with splendid wall and ceiling paintings of the 14th and 16th centuries. The iconostasis is carved, probably dating back to the 15th century with remarkable icons. After 1913 the monastery remained without monks, its properties were encroached and its holy artifacts and relics were stolen. In 1943, when the area was bombarded by the Nazis, it was almost razed to the ground. In 1988 the monastery was manned once more by the present day brotherhood. From the outside the monastery looks (a little bit) like a fortress, due to its walls and gatehouse (PiP5). It is located about 20 km from the town of Konitsa, some hundred meters away from the Aoos River and the border with Albania.