City tour

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A Walk through Arabic and Islamic Leiden
Leiden city tour

Leiden is full of memorabilia from it's long and interesting history of the study of Arabic, the Islam and its dealings with the Middle East. These are easily spotted, as long as one knows where to look.

"The Arab culture has had an enormous influence over the centuries. Mathematics, algebra, astronomy, medicine, philosophy - in all these areas the Arabs developed key concepts and ideas that have been crucial for the development of the West" Petra Sijpesteijn argues in a Dutch magazine article.
In an (approximately) 1,5 hour walk, you will crisscross the historical centre of Leiden and see the remains of this influence of Arab culture on Leiden and Leiden scholars; crescents on the facade of the Leiden city hall, a mosque in the Rembrandtstraat, the gilded Turk in the facade of V & D, the University with ancient manuscripts in Arabic, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje's house and much more.

Authors & guides

The city tour, an initiative of Petra Sijpesteijn (professor of Arabic Language and Culture) is designed by Leiden specialists in the field of Arabic and Islamic history, language and culture. Their knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication proved to be indispensable to the creation of this city tour:
Josien Boetje (MA Linguistics), Kasper van Ommen (coordinator Scaliger Institute, Leiden University), Cor Smit (historian) and Arnoud Vrolijk (curator of Oriental manuscripts and rare books, Leiden University).

Our wonderful tour guides are all students from Leiden University, either from Middle Eastern Studies or with a special interest in Arabic language and culture. They are: Sabine Baër, Manon vd End, Tim Farid, Arinde Jonker, Cornelia Looije, Aguinaldo Lyra, Farieha Mirzada, Nynke Pel, Zeynep Polat and Elke Spiessens.

Photo of Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje in oriental costume, Mecca 1885. Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936) was a Leiden scholar of Oriental cultures and languages and advisor to Dutch government on colonial affairs. He converted to Islam and was one of the first Western scholars of Oriental cultures to go on Hadjj (image: Leiden University Library)

For whom

Anyone interested in learning more about Leiden's history and especially its relation with (the study of) the Middle East and the Islam is welcome to join our city tour.
The city tour is in Dutch so an ability to understand Dutch is useful (occasional explanations in English should be no problem).

For those who prefer to be introduced to 'Arabic and Islamic Leiden' in English: a beautiful bound and illustrated bi-lingual version of the city tour can be bought at the Leiden Tourist Information Centre (VVV - near Leiden Central Station) or in bookstore Van Stockum (on Breestraat)

Schools
A special tour for high schools starts in September. If you want more information, please get in touch using the contact form.

The small slaughterroom on the site of Leiden’s former public abattoir on Maresingel. This is where Muslims could have their livestock slaughtered per Islamic law until 1999. (image: Esther Truijen)

Dates

We have scheduled 2 city tours for the winter months:

1. Sunday 10 November at 14.00
2. Sunday 17 November at 14.00

Please note:
We can only take a limited number of participants per tour.
The tour will last between 1 and 1,5 hours.
Participation in the tour is free (thanks to our sponsors)

Should the demand for a guided city tour exceed our expectations, we will schedule more walks in 2014. New dates will be announced on this website and via our mailinglist.

If you wish to book a private citytour (minimum 8 people), please contact us (contactform)

Registration

The button below will forward you to the Dutch registration page.
After registering, a screen will appear showing you where the tour will start. You will not receive a seperate email

Should you have any question or need help with registering, please contact us using the contactform