Stichting Beeckestijn, odium voor Tuin- en LandschapsCultuur

The permanent exhibition on the ground floor of the main building deals with 'the influence people have on their cultivated environment'. Real nature hardly exists anymore in the Netherlands. Human action has shaped most of the countryside - for practical reasons, to ensure safety, to create parks and gardens, or merely because we wanted to use it to impress others. The exhibition tells a surprising story about the logic of landscaping. It will change the way you look at the world around you forever. The publicly accessible garden of the 18th century country estate Beeckestijn in Velsen-Zuid is unique in the Netherlands, because it is the only location where one can simultaneously view two historically different styles. Next to an austere, geometrically conceived part in French Baroque style lies a playful, more natural English national park. These well preserved green areas form an oasis in the dynamic Randstad area.