MUIDEN

Muiden: translation

City of about 6,500 inhabitants on the River Vecht in the province of Utrecht that lost its commercial activities to Amster dam in the late Middle Ages. Near Muiden, the Count of Holland built a castle, which played a role not only in military and political history—Count Floris V (1254–1296) was imprisoned there by his opponents—but also in cultural history. Historian and poet Pieter Cornelisz Hooft, while governor of the castle from 1609 to 1647, or ganized regular meetings of his friends and fellow men of letters, the so-called Muider Circle. Nowadays the restored castle is used as a center for cultural activities.