Leiden
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The Galgewater is a part of the Oude Rijn in the Dutch city of Leiden, and also the name of the street in the center of Leiden along this water.
The Gravensteen was built in the early 12th century. It served as the (private) escape tower of the Counts of Holland and later as the count's and urban prison, who themselves regularly lived in the adjacent fortified farmhouse (Huize Lokhorst). In 1463, Philip the Good donated the building to the city of Leiden, after which it was given the function of urban prison and prison for Rhineland. Death sentences were from that moment on the square in front of the Gravensteen, the current Court, executed. In 1556 the Gravensteen was expanded with a cell block that is still intact. In 1598 the prison was provided with a disciplinary house and in 1655 with a spider and rasp house. At the end of the nineteenth century, the building increasingly fell into disuse. The last death penalty was carried out here in 1856.
In 1955 the Gravensteen was given a new function: the building became a book warehouse. The function of the building soon changed again. Leiden University was struggling with a lack of space and started using the building. The Legal History Department of the Faculty of Law, in particular, was housed here in a place rich in history. Since 2006, the International Office of Leiden University has been located in this building, since 2011 the Student and Educational Affairs department.