The Horse Chestnuts of Sint Agathaplein

Five horse chestnuts on Sint Agathaplein, three white-flowered and two red, have stood outside the building where William of Orange was shot dead since 1920, planted as part of a coordinated square-wide planting rather than growing in on their own. The address carries more history than the trees themselves: Museum Prinsenhof occupies the former convent where William, leader of the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, was assassinated on the staircase in 1584, and the bullet holes are still in the wall inside. De Boominspecteurs, commissioned by the municipality to assess the square's trees ahead of a major renovation, confirmed the chestnuts as part of the site's protected planting. The renovation itself started in 2025 and is due to finish in 2027, with the museum closed for the duration, and the municipality has stated the square's monumental trees are being kept in the new design even where other, younger planting is not. What that means for a visitor right now is straightforward caution rather than a locked gate: Sint Agathaplein is a public square, but a live building site sits next to it, so the usual free, unrestricted access may be temporarily altered until the work finishes.