Delft is more than 750 years old. Its name is derived from 'delven' which means delve or digging. Delft's oldest canal is called The Old Delft (de Oude Delft). Delft expanded around it; later on many other city-canals were dug as life lines through the city. These grachten are still the pride of Delft.
In 1246 Delft received city rights, granted by Holland's Duke William II. Delft grew prosperous and new neighbourhoods were added to the city. In 1355 it reached the size it would remain at until the 1900s.
In 1536 a great fire destroyed 2300 houses. The most likely cause was lightning striking the tower of The New Church. About 100 years later, in 1654, an explosion destroyed large parts of town; a warehouse with 36 000 kg of gunpowder blew up. A new warehouse (Kruithuis) was later built, outside the city perimeter.
Nieuwe Kerk
In 1842, the Royal Academy for Civil Engineering (Koninklijke Academie ter opleiding van Burgerlijke Ingenieurs) was founded. Now known as Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), it is Delft's biggest employer. About 13,000 students study in Delft.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Delft
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Delft - updated Apr 2024
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Delft Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
