Delft, the most picturesque town in Holland, is less than an hour’s train journey from Amsterdam, and 53 kilometres from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam. Like most towns in Holland, there is water, water everywhere. It is situated at the mouth of a river, while quaint canals criss-cross the town, juxtaposing narrow waterways with equally narrow strips of land. Cute little arched bridges connect the strips of land.

There are close to a hundred bridges in Delft, but no two bridges are alike. Boats traverse the canals, while people pedalling bicycles move alongside on the long and narrow pathways.

Hidden treasures
Delft, the loveliest town in Holland is aptly named. Delft means to dig deep in Dutch. In English, we have the corresponding word delve which too means dig. Delft can be appreciated at many levels and a visitor to this world heritage town is urged by the very air to delve through its various levels and unearth its treasures.
At the most obvious level is Delft’s physical setting. Its early settlers had dug quaint canals that criss-cross the town, juxtaposing narrow waterways with equally narrow strips of land.

The town spawned the Delft Blue style of painting on ceramic surfaces during medieval times, an art form it has still preserved.

Most houses still use Delft Blue tiles and bric-a-brac in their interiors, just as their exteriors are characterised by tall, narrow facades topped by steeple gables.

Vermeer all over
The most famous Guild master of the Delft Blue artisans' guild in the seventeenth century was the eminently gifted painter Johannes Vermeer. His endearing painting, ‘Girl with a Pearl Ear-Ring’, called the Dutch Mona Lisa, is one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.

Delft is indelibly suffused with Vermeer’s aura, and a visit to Delft is quickly followed by a visit to nearby The Hague. Mauritshuis, The Hague showcases a sizeable number of Vermeer’s paintings including ‘Girl with a Pearl Ear-Ring’, and ‘View of Delft’.

‘Girl with a Pearl Ear-Ring’ has attracted a lot of attention in recent times, after a best-selling novel with the same title was published detailing how Vermeer got his inspiration to paint it. The book was then made into an acclaimed Hollywood movie starring Scarlett Johanssen in the title role.

Vermeer’s mesmerising paintings are ubiquitous in Delft, sometimes in the most unexpected of ways. One of his paintings entitled ‘Maid Pouring Milk Into A Basin’, is presented as a gigantic sculptural display on a small plaza in between two canals just walking distance from the railway station.

The sculptural display is also within walking distance of the central town square around which Delft was founded. Dominating the skyline and forming the perimeter of one side of the square is the enormous Nieuwe Kerk (New Church). The church would have been new to the denizens of fourteenth century Delft and must have been among the tallest buildings of that time and age.

The first sovereign of what has become present day Holland, William of Orange is buried there. It is that old. Last year, Queen Juliana of Orange (and of Holland) was also buried there amongst pageantry that kept the entire town spellbound.

Pancakes, please!
In summer, the square is choc-a-bloc full of visitors milling around to eat, drink, be merry, shop, paint, and sight-see. Open-air restaurants on two sides of the square serve profitjes (Dutch pancakes, around the size of a coffee cup’s mouth) with all sorts of combinations, from strawberries and fresh cream, to bacon and fried eggs. The menu cards are adorned with Vermeer paintings and can be bought and kept as souvenirs.

Pride of place is given to the building that housed the Dutch East India Company. This company, which had started out as an enormously successful commercial enterprise then diversified into the even more lucrative activity of  colonising far away lands rich in jewels, spices and natural resources.

The Delft of Vermeer’s time was among the most affluent towns then, causing the populace to experience The Embarrassment Of Riches. What more fitting way to complete a visit to Delft than by perusing Simon Schama’s erudite account of sixteenth and seventeenth century Holland, in which Delft played a prominent role.