Haarlem is a city located in the immediate vicinity of Amsterdam and in the past one of the most important administrative and commercial centers of the Netherlands. Today it is famous as a tulip bulbs sales center and city of many important Dutch museums.
Haarlem was founded in the 13th century and quickly became a very important trade and cloth production center. For some time he even served as the capital of the county of the Netherlands, where his significance was not surpassed by nearby Amsterdam. In the period of the greatest splendor of the city, which lasted until the eighteenth century, the Old Town was created here, which still enchants with picturesque tenement houses, charming squares and monumental churches. The most important of them is the St. Protestant Cathedral standing at the market square. Bavo. It was built in the Gothic style and has been the pride of the city for centuries. In Haarlem there is a second cathedral of the same name, a Catholic built in the nineteenth century in the Neo-Roman style and having a high tower from which you can admire the city panorama.
Around the Market Square and the neighboring streets you can find a lot of historic buildings from different ages. The most beautiful are Vleeshal from the early 17th century and the building on the Spaarne River, which houses the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The Tayler Museum took its name from the founder, Pieter Teyler, who in 1778 donated his collection to the city. Here you can admire ancient maps, scientific instruments, minerals, fossils, antique prints and works of Dutch painting. Another famous museum is the Frans Hals Museum presenting the works of artists from the Haarlem Academy. It is also worth visiting Corrie ten Boom - a museum at the family home, which during World War II hid Jews from Germany.
