.jpg) Plein in the city centre of The Hague, with the statue of William the Silent in the middle | |
  Location in the province of South Holland | |
| Type | Town square |
|---|---|
| Location | The Hague, Netherlands |
| Coordinates | 52°04′48″N 4°18′57″E / 52.0800533°N 4.3157279°E |
Plein or het Plein (Dutch pronunciation: [ət ˈplɛin]; lit. '(the) Square') is a town square in the old city centre of The Hague in the Netherlands.
It is located adjacent to the Binnenhof, the meeting place of the States General of the Netherlands; the entrance to the House of Representatives can be found on Plein 2.[1] The Mauritshuis art museum is located on Plein 29.[2]
Plein was originally a garden, forming a part of the Binnenhof castle, residence of the Counts of Holland. It was used to grow vegetables for the court. The garden was surrounded by a ring of canals and intersected by ditches.[3] As a town square, Plein was constructed in 1632 and was inspired by the Place des Vosges in Paris.
A statue of William the Silent, made by Dutch sculptor Lodewyk Royer, was installed in the centre of the square in 1848.
