AMSTERDAM is awash with picturesque spots, but one of the prettiest – and certainly the most serene – is tucked away behind a little wooden door in the city centre you’d pass without noticing.
It leads from the bustle of traffic-filled streets to a tranquil inner courtyard surrounded by historic houses facing a central, secret garden.
Known as the Begijnhof, it was originally a community of almshouses established in the 14th century where a sisterhood of pious, single women, the Beguines, could live in peace in return for caring for the sick.
Although they lived like nuns, no vows were taken and they were free to marry, although they had to leave to do so.
The houses are all unique and, because their lines follow the original medieval street plan, the entire space sits a metre below street level.
Each house is made up of one- and two-room apartments, with facades dating from the 17th and 18th century but interiors that are much older again.
The square is, in fact, home to the oldest house in Amsterdam, the Houten Huys, or Wooden House, built in 1528 and one of only two such houses left in the city.
Although the Begijnhof was Catholic, it was allowed to remain in existence after the Reformation because the houses were privately owned.
The chapel within the courtyard was, however, given over to English Presbyterians and is still today known as the English Church.
Two of the dwelling houses were subsequently converted by the residents into a clandestine Catholic Church – an invisible church in an invisible square.
Although the last Beguine died in 1971, still today only single women can live here.
* begijnhofamsterdam.nl
