CORRIDOR IN “ST. PIETERSHOFJE,” HOORN, NORTH HOLLAND
TILED FIREPLACE FROM VOLENDAM, NORTH HOLLAND
The corridor at Hoorn (page [149]) belongs to the seventeenth century. It has a timber roof springing from the two side-walls in the form of a barrel-vault. Upon the concave surface are longitudinal and transverse ribs whose intersections are emphasised by carved bosses. The vault is supported at each side by decorated wooden brackets. Another detail associated with a place of access is the wrought-iron railing from Zierikzee (page [146]).
And lastly, three typical village interiors are given. Two, from Volendam (above) and Marken (page [151]), have simple fireplaces faced with ordinary blue and white Dutch tiles. Another shows a room in a wooden house at Marken (page [152]), the timbering of the walls being visible.
But it is the old towns of Holland, rather than the villages, that hold the charms for those who sojourn in that fascinating country; towns rich in associations that unbrokenly date back to a buried and untraceable antiquity. In them history has been made. There stand the old and sober gabled buildings, silent monuments to the thoughts, ideals and ambitions of those who built them. And, clustering around the market-places where life yet centres as it did in days gone by, or reflected in still waters, the houses keep their secrets well.
