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Wall Poem
© Leiden & Partners
Category:Leiden

Wall poetry

When you are walking through Leiden, you cannot miss it. Here and there you will find walls on which poems from around the world are painted. The ‘Poems on Walls’ project started out with 101 poems but dozens of new poems have been added over time. They are written in the poet’s original language.

  • Discover poetry on the walls of Leiden.
  • The Dutch or English translation is found next to the poem.
  • Be sure to look upwards and spot as many poems as possible while walking through the city.

Poem translations

Leiden’s wall paintings stimulate the mind. Each poem communicates a piece of culture – there are Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Japanese, French, Turkish, Moroccan and Indonesian texts on walls dotted throughout the city centre. If you want to know what any of the poems mean, there is often a wall plate or the like nearby with a Dutch and English translation.

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Tour

If you want to see all of Leiden’s wall poems, prepare for a long walk. The local Tourist Office can help you with an itinerary. Another option is to explore Leiden’s beautiful inner city on foot or on a bicycle and look up whenever you can. In this way, you will discover one lovely poem after another in a playful way.

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