Vleeshal and Verweyhal
This is certainly the most elegant building of the Grote Markt. The Haarlem town authorities wanted a rich decorated meat market, a real prestige building and that is what the town architect Lieven de Key (one of the many Flemish immigrants) provided in 1604 by using much natural stone in combination with bricks. The style of the Vleeshal is described by some as "Hollands Renaissance" because of the many ornaments; "manierist" style is also used.

Regulations inside the Vleeshal were very strict: no slaughtering, no walking around, no playing and, very understandable, dogs were strictly prohibited. The rent for the butcher was high: 30 florins per year. The Vleeshal as well as the Verweyhal are now an annexe of the Frans Hals museum under the name "De Hallen". On the time of my visit to Haarlem, I was lucky that the temporary exhibition was on Isaac Israel a very good Dutch impressionist. The theme of the exhibition was "Israels on the beach". This exhibition stops already on 19/08/2007. I have joined some photos. Next exhibition from 01.09.2007 to 25.11.2007 will show works from 15 young artists from Europe and the USA with the theme "The present order is the disorder of the future". 

Hofjes
Haarlem has some 19 hofjes. These places were designed for the elderly. The houses are always situated in carré, with a courtyard in the middle. Some hofjes can be visited on weekdays. The moment you step into a hofje everything is feels very peacefull and quiet! A nice experience to visit some hofjes in Haarlem.

Grote kerk - St. Bavo
The tourist visiting the Grote Kerk St-Bavo is most often unaware that the interior of this church, as many other catholic churches in the Netherlands, was victim of the "Beeldstormers" or protestant iconoclasts. This Catholic Church had been built over the 14 and 15th c. and she became the cathedral of the newly formed diocese of Haarlem in 1559. The deep choir (45 m, among the largest in Europe) was especially convenient for this function. Already in 1566 the first attacks on this symbol of Catholicism were carried out. A large part of the typical catholic decoration was destroyed; the 32 altars, all statues (only the statue of St. Bavo at the front remains). Some altarpieces were saved and are kept at museums. Some wood carved artefacts were preserved. The church was confiscated in 1578. The walls were chalked white to hide the frescos as usual with protestant churches taken over from the Catholics. St. Bavo has been a Protestant church ever since. Strange enough the pared down interior of St-Bavo has been often painted by the 17th c. church interior painters. The famous Pieter Saenredam, who lived in Haarlem painted half a dozen interiors of St-Bavo, as did others like Job Berckheyde or Isaac van Nickelen. I suppose that the sober interior did favour the perspective and light effects sought-after by these painters.