page_title: Burcht van Leiden
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Burcht van Leiden / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Old gate to De Burcht van Leiden. Plaque to the left shows text translated from the latin into middle Dutch&#160;: een kryghs-gebou waar om de dubbele ryn komt stromen. The text above the gate is in three parts dating from respectively 1203, 1420, and 1651.
context_page_description: The Burcht van Leiden is an old shell keep in Leiden constructed in the 11th century. It is located at the spot where two tributaries of the Rhine come together, the Oude Rijn and the Nieuwe Rijn. The structure is on top of a motte, and is today a public park.
context_section_description: From humble beginnings, the hill was raised during various periods of history up to 9 meters above the surrounding landscape in the 11th century. Ada van Holland used the keep as a residence until her father died in 1203 and she was captured by her uncle. In the same year the previous stone building was rebuilt after an attack on the castle, with tuff stone, and after Ada's removal, in 1204 it was attacked again and rebuilt with  brick.
  Later in the 13th century the building was considered antiquated, since more and more townspeople and houses were built around the base of the hill, making defenses impossible without destroying most of the city.  The old "interior keep" that had been built against the interior walls (a similar rounded keep construction can still be seen in Teylingen) was slowly dismantled and reused for city construction.
caption: Southern gate to the Burcht with historic timeline 1203, 1420 and 1574 in Latin. Now facing a busy shopping street.
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