The Secrets of Groningen

You stand at the foot of a tower that has watched over Groningen for more than five centuries. The Martinitoren — affectionately called "d'Olle Grieze" (the Old Grey One) by locals — rises 97 metres above the Grote Markt. Completed around 1482, it was built as the bell tower of the adjacent Martinikerk and served as a watchtower, signalling fires, invasions, and festivals across the flat northern plains.

Climb the 251 steps to the top and you can see clear to the Wadden Sea on a good day. During World War II, the tower survived the fierce Battle of Groningen in April 1945 — though much of the surrounding neighbourhood did not. The carillon of 62 bells still rings across the city every quarter hour.

Crossing the footbridge from the train station, you encounter a building that looks like it crash-landed from another planet. The Groninger Museum — designed by a team led by Alessandro Mendini with contributions from Philippe Starck and Coop Himmelb(l)au — opened in 1994 and immediately became one of the most polarising buildings in the Netherlands.

Three pavilions of clashing colours and geometries sit on an island in the Verbindingskanaal. Inside, the collection ranges from archaeological artefacts and Chinese porcelain to cutting-edge contemporary art. Love it or loathe it, the museum put Groningen on the international architecture map.

You are standing before the neoclassical facade of the Academy Building, the ceremonial heart of the University of Groningen. Founded in 1614 during the Dutch Golden Age, it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands — and the reason Groningen feels so different from other northern cities.

More than 38,000 students flood its streets every term, filling cafes, fuelling nightlife, and giving Groningen a creative edge that belies its compact size. The university has produced four Nobel laureates, including Frits Zernike (Physics, 1953) and Ben Feringa (Chemistry, 2016).

On the corner of the Waagplein, tucked beside the imposing Korenbeurs, stands one of the most elegant buildings in northern Netherlands. The Goudkantoor — literally "Gold Office" — was built in 1635 in Dutch Renaissance style and originally served as the provincial tax receiver's office.

Its ornate sandstone facade with shell-shaped gables and carved coats of arms was designed to project authority and wealth. For centuries, this is where gold and silver were officially weighed, taxed, and recorded. The building survived the 1672 siege of Groningen by the Bishop of Munster virtually intact.

Tucked into a pair of medieval merchants' houses on the Brugstraat, the Northern Maritime Museum tells the story of northern Dutch seafaring — from Hanseatic trade routes to modern shipping. Groningen's location near the Wadden Sea and its network of canals made it a vital inland port for centuries.

The museum's collection includes intricate ship models, navigational instruments, and a full-size reconstructed ship's hold you can walk through. You will learn how Groningen merchants traded grain, peat, and timber across the North Sea.

Behind a modest gate on the Turfsingel hides one of Groningen's best-kept secrets: the Prinsentuin, a Renaissance garden laid out in 1626 for the Stadtholder of the northern provinces. Enclosed by the medieval city wall and a row of ancient linden trees, the garden follows formal geometric patterns with clipped hedges, herb beds, and a sundial at its centre.

For nearly four centuries, this quiet rectangle of green has served as an escape from the busy streets just metres away. The garden is maintained by volunteers and is free to enter. In summer, a small tea house opens at the far end.

The Stadsschouwburg (City Theatre) opened its doors in 1883, built in an eclectic Neo-Renaissance style that reflected Groningen's growing cultural ambitions. At a time when Amsterdam and The Hague dominated Dutch cultural life, Groningen was determined to prove that the north could stage world-class performances too.

The theatre was designed by local architect Jan Roelof Vos. Its intimate horseshoe-shaped auditorium seats around 500, wrapped in red velvet and ornamental plasterwork. After a major renovation in the early 2000s, it remains the city's premier performing arts venue.

You are standing on the Vismarkt, one half of Groningen's great double market square. Together with the Grote Markt, these two connected squares have been the city's commercial heart since the 13th century. Fish was sold here from the Middle Ages onward — hence the name.

Dominating the square is the Korenbeurs (Corn Exchange), a grand neoclassical building from 1865 where grain merchants once traded. Every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, the Vismarkt fills with market stalls selling everything from fresh herring to Gouda cheese to stroopwafels.

The Prinsenhof began life as a monastery in the 15th century before becoming the residence of the Stadtholder — the governor of Groningen and the surrounding Ommelanden. It was from here that the province was governed during the tumultuous years of the Dutch Republic.

The building's history mirrors the city's own: monastic origins, then political power, then genteel decline, and finally reinvention. Today, the Prinsenhof operates as a boutique hotel, but you can still walk through its historic courtyards and admire the blend of medieval brick and 17th-century classical additions.

Your final stop takes you to the Noorderplantsoen — a long, curving English-style park that traces the line of Groningen's former northern fortifications. When the city walls were demolished in the 1870s, this park was created in their place, opening in 1880.

On any sunny day, the Noorderplantsoen fills with students lounging on the grass, families picnicking by the ponds, and cyclists weaving through. Every August, the park hosts the Noorderzon performing arts festival, transforming the lawns into an open-air theatre, music, and art village for eleven days. This park is where Groningen's identity crystallises: green, free-spirited, and always in motion.