Every design for Oegstgeest

Oegstgeest lies just north of Leiden, close enough that for centuries its border ran right up to the city walls and moats, until the growing city took more and more of its land.

What makes Oegstgeest unusual is that for most of its history it was not really one place at all. When Leiden gained its city rights, building and trade were banned within a certain distance of the city, and Oegstgeest stayed a scatter of hamlets: the old village by the Little Green Church, a cluster near the castle of Oud Poelgeest, others along the roads. Only after the turn of the last century did new neighbourhoods fill the gaps, from Wilhelminapark and Prins Hendrikpark to Rhijngeest. Even the name tells a story: the geest in Oegstgeest was the sandy ground dug away in the seventeenth century to build Leiden's new districts. The castles of Endegeest and Oud Poelgeest survived it all, and the Polders van Poelgeest keep a stretch of open land.

If you grew up here, the map will show you the route you knew best: past the castle woods and over the polder, into the city and back again to the quieter streets of home.