Monumentendag is full of surprises this year.

During Open Monumentendag – every second weekend of September – thousands of historical buildings and sites (about 4.000) are open to the public free of charge.

Besides opening their doors, many locations also organize on-site activities like exhibitions, musical performances and guided tours. Each year around 80 to 85 % of Dutch municipalities participate in the Open Monumentendag, organized by local committees. In recent years around 900,000 visitors have participated annually, making the Open Monumentendag one of the Netherlands’ premier cultural events.

Open Monumentendag in the Netherlands started in 1987 and is coordinated nationally by the Stichting Open Monumentendag, which has its office in Amsterdam. The Open Monumentendag is part of an international organisation, the European Heritage Days. The Netherlands was one of the first countries to participate and played a key role in establishing this Europe-wide phenomenon in the 1990s. Today 48 countries are affiliated with the European Heritage Days, which attracts around 20 million visitors every September and October, all keen to explore Europe’s cultural heritage.

Monumentendag in Haarlem.

This weekend, Haarlem is ideal for a lovely walk along all the monuments that this historic city has in abundance. The walk takes about an hour and a half, but you’ll see so many lovely sights along the way that you’ll want to spend all day in Haarlem.

Holland.com has provided a free itinerary walk taking the most of monumentendag. 

For the first time ever in Haarlem, a night concert is happening featuring over 100 musicians, who will be playing their instruments hanging outside the windows, the balconies and stairs of the buildings surrounding the Grote Markt. It will cost 15Euros and the music begins at 20.00. Reserve your ticket now.

Among all the monuments open this weekend, is the hofjes and the Villa Welgelegen. Download the program for more information.