Leiden City World Walks: Traces of Africa and the Middle East
Learn about Leiden in a new and interesting way. Discover the city with the two city walks: Traces of Africa and Traces of the Middle East in Leiden. During the walking tours you will visit important locations that represent the history of the city.
Traces of Africa in Leiden
During this walk you will become acquainted with events, persons and buildings from Leiden’s history with Africa. From the Lakenhal, where textile that the Dutch used as a medium of exchange for slaves from West Africa was inspected, to the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Nelson Mandela. The walk has been composed by the African Studies Centre Leiden.
Traces of the Middle East in Leiden
The Middle East has been studied at Leiden University for over four hundred years. For today’s purpose the term Middle East is applied to include North Africa and parts of Central Asia in order to refer to an area that has been under the influence of Islam for a long time. The term “the Islamic World” is not made use of because so much of what is encountered is not at all or not solely determined by Islam. The connection between Leiden and the Middle East is visible throughout the city, but of course you have to know where to look in order to recognize it. During the tour you will visit the Museum of Ethnology, ”Volkenkunde”, Leiden University Library, the National Museum of Antiquities and much more!
These tours are perfect to enjoy at your on pace, as you can dowload the PDF version of the tour and walk it whenever you want!