The Shell Grotto Nienoord () is a

shell grotto A shell grotto is a type of folly, a grotto decorated with sea shells. The shell grotto was a popular feature of many British country houses in the 17th and 18th centuries. It suited the Baroque and Rococo styles (which used swirling motifs sim ...

built around the year 1700 at the behest of Anna van Ewsum, in a cupola in the southern gardens of the former

borg The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. They are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "The Collective". The Borg co- ...

on the Nienoord estate in

Leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

, in the northeastern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The grotto was originally built as a treasury for the ''

jonkheer (female equivalent: ; in the masculine only; ''jonkvrouw'' is used in the feminine, even in French; ) is an honorific in the Low Countries denoting the lowest rank within the nobility. In the Netherlands, this in general concerns a prefix used ...

s'' of Nienoord. All that is known about the reason for covering the cupola's interior in shells, comes from a folk tale. This is not the only shell grotto in the Netherlands. Others can be found on the Rosendael Caste estate (

Rozendaal Rozendaal () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. The town, next to Arnhem and Velp, Gelderland, Velp, is known for the Rozendaal Castle (''Kasteel Rosendael'') ...

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

, built in 1722) and in

Het Loo Palace Paleis Het Loo ( , meaning "The wikt:lea#English, Lea") is a palace in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, built by the House of Orange-Nassau. History The symmetry, symmetrical Dutch Baroque architecture, Dutch Baroque building was designed by Jacob Roman ...

(

Apeldoorn Apeldoorn (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city in the province of Gelderland in the centre of the Netherlands. The municipality of Apeldoorn, including the villages of Beekbergen, Loenen (Apeldoorn), Loenen, Ugchelen and Hoenderloo ...

Gallery

File:Interieur tuinkoepel, overzicht van de hoek linksachter, behandeld als schelpengrot - Leek - 20530005 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur tuinkoepel, overzicht van het middendeel van de rechterwand, behandeld als schelpengrot - Leek - 20529994 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur tuinkoepel, detail van de linkerwand, morekop, behandeld als schelpengrot - Leek - 20530009 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur tuinkoepel, figuur rechtsboven, detail van de linkerwand, behandeld als schelpengrot - Leek - 20530011 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur tuinkoepel, detail van de achterwand onder het raam, behandeld als schelpengrot - Leek - 20530007 - RCE.jpg File:Interieur tuinkoepel, zicht op het linkerdeel van de rechterwand, behandeld als schelpengrot - Leek - 20529982 - RCE.jpg File:Overzicht voorgevel en linker zijgevel tuinkoepel - Leek - 20364153 - RCE.jpg

References

* Buildings and structures in Groningen (province) Westerkwartier (municipality) Shell grottoes {{Netherlands-struct-stub