The Revolutions

The 17th-century Dreefden or the Toeren.

Around 1630, the Dreefden were built by order of stadtholder Frederik Hendrik van Oranje-Nassau, count of Buren. This large pentagon of avenues on dikes, with a central axis to the castle, is unique in the Netherlands and an early example of Dutch landscape architecture. Originally, the avenues were planted, in a triangular pattern, with oaks, beeches, elms and poplars. Within the pentagon (the space that is called the Binnencoppel in archival documents) there were meadows, arable land and two farms with orchards. In 1846 the Dreefden came into the possession of the royal orphanage. At the beginning of the 20th century, some of the original trees were replaced by walnuts and an orchard was planted. Soon after, the name changed to De Toeren. The structure of the avenues has not changed in all those years since its construction in 1630.

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