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Walking route 11fountains: Franeker

(2.5 km)

About the walking tour
Franeker is a small academic city, with hidden gardens and characteristic façades. Ideal for a short walk that will make a big impression. From the sumptuous façades of the canalside houses, to the bulwarks and hidden gardens in the city centre. Anyone with an eye for detail will be delighted. And this extends to the sky: Franeker, once a university town, is also the city of stargazers. It’s the birthplace of the brilliant astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort and home to the world’s oldest working planetarium, built by amateur astronomer Eise Eisinga. During this 30-minute walk, you will discover the story behind the fountain and see the hidden gems of this city.

Easy navigation?
View the route in Google Maps

About the Oort Fountain
The fountai…

About the walking tour
Franeker is a small academic city, with hidden gardens and characteristic façades. Ideal for a short walk that will make a big impression. From the sumptuous façades of the canalside houses, to the bulwarks and hidden gardens in the city centre. Anyone with an eye for detail will be delighted. And this extends to the sky: Franeker, once a university town, is also the city of stargazers. It’s the birthplace of the brilliant astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort and home to the world’s oldest working planetarium, built by amateur astronomer Eise Eisinga. During this 30-minute walk, you will discover the story behind the fountain and see the hidden gems of this city.

Easy navigation?
View the route in Google Maps

About the Oort Fountain
The fountain is an ode to the world-famous astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort, born in Franeker. His assumption that a ‘cloud’ of billions of comet-like objects moves around our solar system marked a breakthrough in astronomy. The fountain’s design consists of a series of waterfalls flowing from a bowl into a basin along a vertical chain of pearls in colours of the night. One of the pearls is silver-coloured, like the colour of the moon, another is gilded, the colour of the sun. The ‘Oort Cloud’ itself is a haze of fine droplets falling into the bowl from a gold-coloured wire mesh structure.

Sights on this route

11Fountains Franeker

The fountain is an ode to the world-famous astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort, who was born in Franeker. His assumption that a ‘cloud’ of billions of comet-like objects is moving around our solar system was a breakthrough in astronomy

11Fountains Franeker
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Eise Eisinga Planetarium

The oldest working planetarium in the world.

Eise Eisinga Planetarium

Grain Carrier’s Cottage (Korendragershuisje)

This listed building in Franeker is a traditional grain or sack carrier’s cottage.

Grain Carrier’s Cottage (Korendragershuisje)
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De Mouterij Franeker

Voormalig schuilkerkje. Stichting De Mouterij heeft de kerkzaal met zorg gerestaureerd en geschikt gemaakt voor culturele activiteiten.

De Mouterij Franeker

Geuzengat

Het beroemde Geuzengat in Franeker.

Geuzengat

Vier theehuisjes op de wal

De vier theehuisjes op de wal in Franeker.

Vier theehuisjes op de wal
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Keatsmuseum

Het Keatsmuseum is het oudste sportmuseum van Nederland. Het museum geeft in haar vaste opstelling een beeld van de historische ontwikkeling van de kaatssport. In wisselende tentoonstellingen vind je er alles over de kaatssport.

Keatsmuseum

Museum Martena

Museum Martena is the museum of the city of Franeker. Traditionally Franeker is one of the eleven cities of Friesland, it has a historic center with canals, a street plan dating from the Middle Ages and many remarkable old buildings.

Museum Martena

11Fountains Franeker

The fountain is an ode to the world-famous astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort, who was born in Franeker. His assumption that a ‘cloud’ of billions of comet-like objects is moving around our solar system was a breakthrough in astronomy

11Fountains Franeker
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