The Prinsenhof (Prince’s Court), on the banks of Delft’s oldest canal, Oude Delft, dates from the late 1400s and was originally a convent backed by tranquil gardens that make a pleasant spot to wander. William of Orange, the “Father of the Dutch Nation,” maintained his battle HQ here during all the years he fought the Spanish to found the Dutch Republic, and also where an assassin’s bullets ended his life in 1584. The musket-ball holes are still visible on the stone stairwell. Three permanent exhibitions look at the life of William of Orange and highlight his influence on modern-day Holland; chart the Dutch entrepreneurial spirit from Golden Age to present day; and examine the creative genius of the nation with impressive tapestries, silverware, pottery, Golden Age glassware, and paintings—including five versions of the “View of Delft” painted by contemporaries of Jan Vermeer.