Begijnhof

Begijnhof is a medieval inner courtyard in Amsterdam, tucked within the Singel and about a metre below the old city centre. It is the only Amsterdam courtyard founded during the Middle Ages. Records mention beguines living here in 1346, while the courtyard first appears in writing in 1389. Water once surrounded the enclosure on every side. The original entrance stood at Begijnensteeg, reached by a bridge over the Begijnensloot, or Beguines’ Ditch.

The community housed unmarried religious women who took vows of chastity, attended Mass, and could leave to marry. Their shared life resembled a convent, with greater personal freedom. Tall Amsterdam townhouses ring the courtyard, with façades from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Many buildings are older than their façades suggest. House number 34, the Houten Huys, dates from around 1420 and retains a wooden structure. The city banned timber houses after fires in 1521.

After Amsterdam’s Protestant takeover in 1578, private ownership allowed the Catholic institution to remain. A hidden Catholic church occupied two houses from 1671. The former chapel became the English Reformed Church, whose medieval tower survives, while some pulpit panels carry designs by Piet Mondrian. Biblical wall plaques mark this quiet enclosure.