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Stroll through the town centre
King_Golo Says: Oudewater is a small place, so best discovered by foot. You should start your tour on Leeuweringer Straat which also houses the town's best-known sight, the Heksenwaag (witches scale). Here, women who were thought to be witches were weighed in order to see whether their...
ATLC Says: As I had parked the car, just outside the town center, I passed something that looked like a Centaurus, you know, half man half horse.Except this was half old church and half modern building.It is the Ursula chapel that was built in 1412. During the centuries it was used as...
ATLC Says: This is the coat of arms of Oudewater. It can be seen beside the Ursula Chapel but apart from the castle and Dutch Lion, I cannot make out the rest.
egonwegh Says: So here's the story of the weighing house. It's hard to believe that this is not a legend, but this is how people actually dealt with these matters during the Middle Ages:Back in those days, being successful in business, casting a single dark look at your neighbour, keeping...
al_mary Says: A must to see is the Town Hall, or as they say in Dutch, the Stadhuis ....In 1588 a begin was made with the rebuilding of the Town Hall that had been partially destroyed by the Spaniards in 1575. It is typical of the Dutch Renaissance style. In the facade of the building the...
al_mary Says: ~~~~~~~~~~~~Oudewater has always been well known throughout the centuries because of its Witches' Weigh House, the Heksenwaag.In the old days thousands of people were put to death on suspicion of witchcraft. There was however one place in Europewhere you could get a...
A strawl along the old waters of Oudewater
Pavlik_NL Says: Oudewater's centre is completely put on the monumental list of the Netherlands. It contains 164 state monuments added by 140 manucipality monument statusses. Some of them I will tell about in more details, but one should not forget about the complete scenic environment that...
ATLC Says: This weigh house was used for trading. Specifically hemp for the rope industry. Until the 18th century ther were also persons weighed here. Persons that were accused of being witches. It was believed that witches did not weigh anything (see Local Customs tips for further...
egonwegh Says: We had a quick lunch here: a mixed salad with olives, bread with mozzarella, and cappuccino. Friendly waiter who spoke Italian, to which I replied grazie!. Jennie suspected that this was part of this man's act - she thought he was perfectly capable of speaking Dutch!
ATLC Says: Next to the 'Waag' is a very nice tearoom where lunch (especially soup) was enjoyed by me and a friend. Oldfashioned Dutch ambience and quite a busy place!On the photo it's the biggest building with the step gable. 'Today's soup' being tomato soup.
ATLC Says: From Utrecht Central station, take Connexxion bus 180, direction Gouda. The ride is 44 minutes and it's a direct route (no changes).You can also take bus 505 but that involves one change of bus and it takes longer.From Oudewater busstation it's a few minutes walk into the...
Just a swift exit from the freeway
Pavlik_NL Says: Oudewater canb be reached by car on a very easy and fast way. When traveling between Utrecht and The Hague one can take the exit at either Nieuwerbrug/Waarder/Driebruggen (nr 13) or Woerden/Linschoten and follow the signs to Oudewater. The drive is through typical Dutch low...
Helpfulness
This little shop stands out in Oudewater where in general I did not find fashion shops to be of high standard.
Pardoes does, definitely! There were various clothes I would've liked to buy.
Can be described as very modern, not mainstream fashion, good quality and as I noticed: very well made. Not cheap though!
What to pay: The nice blouses I saw were € 100 or more.
Written Feb 4, 2005
Address: Peperstraat 12-14, 3412 AM Oudewater
Phone: 0348 565057
The oldest nest in the Netherlands
Pavlik_NL Says: Right on top of the Oudewater townhall is a chimney with on top of it a large nest. this is not just a storches nest, but the oldest nest of the Netherlands (as it is said). Already in the painting of Dirck Stoop (1656) that represents the destruction of Oudewater by the...
ATLC Says: Weigh house is on the left, beside the white building. Witches were believed to be weightless and could thus fly. Until the 18th century people accused of witchery were weighed here. But here the story goes differently than in so many other places. Weighing was always...
Helpfulness
A historical Danger tip.
During the Dutch Revolt, when the Spanish occupied these regions, the Oudewater population was murdered out completely in 1575. Only three persons survived.
A painting about this historical fact was made in 1650 by Dirk Stoop, and now hangs in the Town Hall.
Written Feb 5, 2005
Website: www.vvvoudewater.nl
Helpfulness
During the 16th and 17th centuries women would visit the Weigh House, to be weighed & issued with a certificate to prove they were not a witch.
The scales are from 1482 & you can try them & also be issued with an appropriate certificate !
Written Nov 6, 2004
Phone: 0348-563400
Website: http://www.heksenwaag.nl/
ATLC Says: Tourist Office Oudewater supplies information about Oudewater and surroundings.Address: Kapellestraat 2, 3421 CV Oudewater Tel. 0348-564636 Fax 0348-565372 E-mail info@vvvoudewater.nl Located in the Kapellenstraat, just round the corner from the Town Hall. It's the white...
An old town with a lot of history
Pavlik_NL Says: Oudewater is an old town that got it's cityrights before 1265 by the bishop of Utrecht. The town was situated on the border between the bisdom Utrecht and the ducy of (South) Holland and therefore a fortified place of strategic importance. Trade in - for example rope that...
Pavlik_NL Says: In the here and now, Oudewater is a town that is hidden inside the green heart of the Randstad Holland. Not getting it's share of visitors that it deserves as the complete inner town is appointed as monumental and houses beautiful houses on scenic canals, as well as...
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Sometimes you just need to get off the motorway and gently drive the countryside, discovering hidden treasures like Oudewater. Oudewater is awash with history. What to think of the Oudewater Murder,...
Weighing witches and "wild" waters
Within the green heart that forms the centre of the Randstad Holland (the circle of towns and cities within the West of the Netherlands that form the densest populated area in the world) lays the...
Ferocious looking lion on the steps of Oudewater town hall. The origin of the coat of arms is apparently unknown, but that doesn't seem to bother the lion! We had lunch here and we made a very short...
Oudewater is a village not visited by many tourists. Most foreign travel guidebooks only have a few lines about Oudewater and just mention the presence of the "heksenwaag". In fact Oudewater is one of...
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