50th Wedding anniversary at Castle Muiderslot

This year my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They wanted a special day with their children and grandchildren and asked me to organise the event. I had sort of carte blanche as long as it was entertaining for the grandchildren. Since I don't have any kids myself I asked my sister and sister-in-law what they thought would be fun for all. My sister-in-law came up with the suggestion of a visit to Castle Muiderslot, my sister and I thought that was a great plan and off we went.

my parents

Castle Muiderslot is a well kept medieval castle in the Netherlands built around 1285 by count Floris V, Count of Holland and Zeeland. It is a relatively small square shaped castle with a moat and a drawbridge. Count Floris V was captured by his own nobles during a falcon hunt and taken to Castle Muiderslot. He was imprisoned here for 5 days before the nobles fled for local peasants that came to help Floris V. It came to a battle at Muiderberg and Floris V was brutally murdered by his own nobles. His dramatic murder was engineered by King Edward I and Guy, Count of Flanders and made him a hero in the Netherlands.

inner courtyard of Castle Muiderslot

sister-in-law and niece: Edith and Ella

The castle has ample opportunity to walk around by yourself but also offers a few guided tours for those more interested in the history of the castle and the people that lived in it. We went on one of the tours and visited some great rooms. The guide explained about the way of living in those days and the origins of special expressions in our language. We were surprised to hear how many expressions originated from castle life.

photo by Edith van Dieren

The castle offers a few rooms were kids can dress up as knights or ladies. My nephew and nieces loved that!

my niece Emily dressed as a knight

my nephew Janne looks just like a knight

my niece Lisa dressed up like the lady of the castle

Castle Muiderslot with its gardens

The historical gardens of Castle Muiderslot are still in use and under maintenance of volunteers. The plum orchard was apparently famous in the time of poet and writer P.C. Hooft (1581-1647) as a still existing expression says: "See you in plum season."
P.C. Hooft was also one of the owners of Castle Muiderslot and he gathered a circle of artists like scolars, authors and painters around him, the so called Muiderkring.

The falconer gives a show regularly to the excitement of a lot of kids.

niece Jikke with her beautifully braided hair

my oldest niece Katie taking a picture (not a selfie!)

niece Ella looking at a brooding crested grebe

medieval looking tent

sleeping owl

A visit to Castle Muiderslot is worth your while if you are interested in a bit of Dutch history and medieval & 17th century life in a castle. There is plenty to do for kids and we all had a lovely day together. Furthermore, it is an excellent site to visit if you are celebrating something special like a 50th wedding anniversary. My parents loved it and I promised them a photo book with pictures of the event. I'll show you when it's finished.