Zuiderkerkhof

Zuiderkerkhof is a quiet inner square in Amsterdam’s centre, within the Zuiderkerkbuurt neighbourhood. You find a pedestrian courtyard beside the large Zuiderkerk, with entrances from four surrounding streets. Nieuwe Hoogstraat, Sint Antoniebreestraat, Moddermolenstraat and Zandstraat lead into this enclosed urban space. Nieuwmarkt metro station also has an entrance and exit directly on the square.

Between 1603 and 1614, the open space served as the Zuiderkerk’s cemetery. Seventeenth-century remains surfaced during 1970s metro construction, when surrounding buildings made way for tunnel sections. Reconstruction then created the courtyard visible today, combining older façades with the Pentagon complex and Watervalgebouw. Across from the church, architects Theo Bosch, Aldo van Eyck and Hans Hagenbeek shaped contrasting parts of the setting.

The strongest reminder of the past stands near Sint Antoniebreestraat: a seventeenth-century cemetery gate. Skulls and bones carved across its burial shroud point directly to the ground’s former purpose. The gate is thought to have come from Hendrick de Keyser’s workshop, linking it with the nearby church. Look towards Zandstraat for the gable stone De stal int Nuland and the Watergordijn façade.