Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: Amsterdam

A Dutch hofje is a complex of almshouses around a central courtyard. They were built since the Middle Ages as a charity to house needy or elderly men and women. Amsterdam still has about 30 hofjes ; most of them can be found in or around the Jordaan neighbourhood. Hofje van Brienen - or officially Het Brienens Gesticht de Star , was founded by Arnoud Jan van Brienen and his wife Sophia Maria Half-Wassenaar . In 1797 they commissioned the city architect of Amsterdam to design this hofje and to build it on the former location of beer brewery De Star . The aim was to provide housing for impoverished Roman Catholic men. Eventually the courtyard was built in 1803 and it was not until 1806 that the first inhabitants moved in. Hofje van Brienen was completely renovated in 1997 and comprises 26 residential units. Nowadays they are inhabited by both married as unmarried, catholic and non-catholic inhabitants above the age of 45 years with a low income. The hofje , being a hidden gem full with flowering and evergreen plants, can be visited for free.

Begijnhof is the only almshouse founded in medieval Amsterdam, located within the innermost canal the ‘Singel’. Begijnhof is not an ordinary almshouse as it was not founded by private persons. It bore closer resemblance to a convent, although the beguines enjoyed more freedom than nuns in a convent. They were a group of unmarried or widowed women who lived together in a close community under a vow of chastity, but were free to leave the court at any time in order to get married. The ‘begijntjes’ (beguines) received free lodging for caring the sick and educating the poor in Amsterdam. It is unclear when the Beguinage was founded. The beguines lived in 1346 still in one house; in a document called "Beghynhuys". In 1389 for the first time is spoken of a courtyard. Begijnhof doesn’t have the small houses, so characteristic for most of the Dutch almshouses, but exist of 47 ordinary townhouses, each with facades from the 17th and 18th century (PiP 1). Most of the houses are older and quite a lot of them still have a Gothic timber frame. One of the oldest wooden houses of Amsterdam - Houten Huys from 1528 - is located within the Begijnhof (PiP2). The Begijnhof Chapel features a series of panels telling the story of the Miracle of Amsterdam. For more info and pictures about this chapel see: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/41236526 Nowadays the houses in Begijnhof are still occupied by single women. The secluded courtyard is a green oasis, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the city centre of Amsterdam.

The beguines had as early as 1397 their own little chapel in the Begijnhof. After the enlargement of the beguinage a new larger chapel was consecrated. The beguines themselves paid for the restoration of their church after it was damaged during fires in 1421 and 1452. After the ‘Alteration’ (transition of the municipality to the Protestant church) of 1578 their Gothic church was confiscated for Protestant use. The English Reformed Church of Amsterdam still has its services at this location. The Beguines went without a church for a century, worshipping in their homes in the Begijnhof. In 1671 began construction of their own Catholic chapel in two of their houses, which was authorized by the Protestant authorities, but its exterior had to be hidden from public view. So it became a ‘hidden church’. It opened for its first service in 1682. The interior of the Begijnhofkapel still offers fine marble columns, wooden pews, stained-glass windows and paintings telling the story of the ‘Miracle of Amsterdam’, referring to a eucharistic miracle in 1345, which happened in the Kalverstraat, not far from the Begijnhof. See for more info and pictures of the Begijnhof: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/41236800

Amsterdam has more than one hundred kilometers of canals, about 90 islands and 1500 bridges. The ‘Grachtengordel’ (Canal Ring Area) does exist of the Singel - in the Middle Ages a moat around the oldest parts of the city - and the main canals Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht. These three canals - dug in the 17th century during the so called Dutch Golden Age - form a concentric belt around the city. The area around the city's main canals is an international icon of urban planning and architecture, which is still intact after four centuries. The area is known for its small bridges going over the canals and 17th-century canal homes. UNESCO added the Canal Ring Area in August 2011 to the World Heritage List. Pictures: main photo: façades of canal houses along de Prinsengracht, nearby Brouwersgracht note 1: Herengracht note 2: Prinsengracht note 3: Keizersgracht For more information: www.canalsamsterdam.com