Delft is a city dating from the 13th century, and an easy tram ride from The Hague. The center of town is compact for an easy stroll and photo opportunities at every corner.

5273 Classic view down a canal, cars parked on both sides under the trees with arched bridges for pedestrian traffic

5275

5277

5278 At one end of the central market square are the "old" church and city hall.

5281 At the other end of the central market square is the "new" church where the Royal Family of Oranje Nassau are traditionaly buried.

5286 Feeding pigeons in the central market square.

5290

5292 Flying buttresses were necessary to stop the main walls from being pushed out by the weight of the roof. How these were designed to be so optimal without the use of computers - or even much understanding of the underlying engineering principles - is still a mystery.

5298 Sometimes the rear wall of a building forms the wall of the canal, with the back door leading right into the water. Note the round brick tower structure with all its weight supported by just three timber struts. This tower may have originaly served as a toilet facility (the canal served as a handy sewer in medieval times) but now the presence of a window in the tower suggests the space is otherwise used..

5301 Next to an old convent building we find an operating sweet shop (candy store) which also serves as a museum display of what a small store might have had on it shelves over the last century or so - with the old apothecary bottles at the top and slighly more modern soaps and detergents on the lower shelves.

5302 The door in the corner is the entrance to the candy store shown in the previous image.

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