City walk through Deventer with tower climb

I had never been to Deventer before, so when we were allowed to visit this beautiful city on behalf of VVV Deventer, we grabbed this opportunity with both hands. We were given an extensive program that included an extensive private city tour. We were given this city tour of Deventer by Truus Schreijer. And despite the rain, it was fantastic!

Almost too late!

Deventer is located on the IJssel river and with the ferry you can very easily cross from the city center to the other side where Pillows, our luxury boutique hotel on the IJssel and Meadow, the cozy beach club on the Deventer city beach can be found. It was raining heavily as we waited for the ferry after our lunch at Meadow. The ferry was across the street and by the looks of it, quite a few people were coming aboard. Time was ticking away slowly, so we called Truus Schreijer – our city guide – to let her know we weren’t going to make it to City Hall at 2:30. Fortunately, Truus didn’t mind. She even came to pick us up from the ferry!

City walk through the rain

Unfortunately, Buienradar is not always right. From 15:00 it seemed to get drier, but it actually started to rain harder. Very unfortunate, but that was not to spoil the fun. Visiting a city with a city guide really adds value! Truus told us all nice details about the different old buildings, the shopping streets and she showed us the most beautiful spots of the city. Along the way we met more city guides with groups of people who were doing a city walk through Deventer. We really had a very luxurious private walk, but of course a walk with more people is just as much fun!

Old buildings and a brand new city hall

Deventer is one of the oldest cities in our country and especially in the city center many old buildings have been preserved. The Town Hall is located on the Grote Kerkhof across from the Lebuinus Church. First there was only a Council House (the facade of the Council House dates from the 17th century) that functioned as a town hall, but the municipality had grown a bit out of that. So a new city hall had to be added. Well, there was quite a bit of resistance to that. Nevertheless, the new city hall came in 2016. Nice detail are the 2264 unique fingerprints that can be seen around the building. These fingerprints are of Deventer residents; for example, there is a fingerprint of someone 93 years old and a fingerprint of someone 4 months old. Artist Loes ten Anscher made the panels with the fingerprints from clay after which they were later cast in aluminum. The building is also particularly durable.

Smart entrepreneurs

On the Grote Poot you will find a number of restaurants and bistros that opened around the same time. These young entrepreneurs joined forces and came up with a very clever construction. For example, Restaurant Jackies and No. 11 share the same terrace. One uses it in the evening for people who come for drinks and dinner and the other during lunch. The Lemon Tree on the corner does not use the terrace since the fine dining restaurant does not need a terrace. But what they do do is exchange dishes among themselves. Rubia, located just down the road, supplies desserts to The Lemon Tree. They sell fantastic chocolate chocolates, by the way. Wine store Jackies Fine Wines across the street is also part of this team.

The beautiful houses of Deventer

Everywhere you look you see beautiful houses in the city center of Deventer. If you’re from Amsterdam, you probably recognize the architectural style! They are actually all canal houses that are not on a canal. Because Deventer doesn’t have canals. Many houses also have ornaments that all have their own meaning, such as the “Green Men.” These are statues on facades that have references to nature. “Green” in fact represents fertility and the evil faces keep evil spirits out. The oldest stone house in the Netherlands can also be found in Deventer. The house was built around 1130 and can be seen at Sandrasteeg number 8. There also used to be city farms in Deventer. Here cows and other farm animals were also just kept, in the middle of the city!

Tower climb Lebuinus church

Truus asked us at the beginning of the city walk through Deventer if we were up for braving the 220 steps of the Lebuinus Church tower now that it was raining so much. We decided to push the tower climb at least a little toward the end of the walk. A good choice, as it gradually became a little drier. Truus had the key (!) to the door to the church tower and so, once again, the three of us could go in. Climbing stairs while walking continuously in circles is quite tough, but very rewarding! You could walk all the way around and thus enjoy the beautiful view. And honestly, those dark clouds only made the view more spectacular!

On to the DAVO city brewery

When we arrived back downstairs, it was time to finish the city walk through Deventer. In fact, our next stop was the DAVO city bre wery where we would have a beer tasting. We walked on the city side of the IJssel River toward the brewery. We arrived there at half past four at the minute. Truus neatly delivered us to owner Jos and we said goodbye to her.

Dear Truus, thank you for the fun and educational city tour and thank you VVV Deventer for making this fun weekend possible! We did it all over again the next day (except for the tower climb) in the sunshine!

Photo’: OpstapmetLisa

This blog was editorially created in conjunction with VVV Deventer. Thanks also to city guide Truus Schreijer for the fun city tour!