Swans at the skyline of Zutphen by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About "Swans at the skyline of Zutphen"

by Jeroen de Jongh Photography

About the artwork

Zutphen is a city in the Dutch province Gelderland, situated on the right bank of the river IJssel. The history of Zutphen spans over 1700 years. In that time Zutphen has grown from a Germanic settlement, via an important power centre around 1000 and a successful trading centre around 1300, to a medium-sized city today. The city received city rights at the end of the 12th century and joined the Hanseatic League. The coat of arms of Zutphen still carries the symbols of a Hanseatic city.

The Walburgiskerk, locally known as Walburgkerk, is a church at the 's-Gravenhof in Zutphen of which the oldest part dates from the 11th century. The present church dates for the greater part from the first half of the 13th century; since the 16th century it has had its present-day appearance. The tower has a height of 76 metres, but was 117 metres high until 1600. With this, the tower was higher than the Dom of Utrecht.

A city wall is a wall or enclosure of a city with which a defense against enemies was formed. In the Middle Ages, a city first had to obtain permission from the lord before building a city wall. This was not directly linked to obtaining city rights: it was usually a separate privilege that was only granted later. The earliest city walls were built with wooden posts but these were later often rebuilt with stone, because these were stronger and could thus keep out attacking armies more easily.