Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Local Life
Oudemanhuis Book Market
To rub tweed-patched elbows with professors browsing 19th-century copies of
Das Kapital
and Icelandic sagas,
head to the
Oudemanhuis Book Market
(Oudemanhuispoort; 11am-4pm Mon-Fri; 4/9/14/16/24/25 Spui)
. The venerable little bazaar hides in a moody old covered alleyway between Oudezijds Achterburgwal and
Kloveniersburgwal by the University of Amsterdam. Most of the secondhand tomes are in Dutch, though a few
English-language classics turn up, too.
2
Civic Guard Gallery
GALLERY
This cool gallery is part of the Amsterdam Museum, and fills an alleyway next to the en-
trance. It displays grand posed group portraits, from medieval guards painted during the
Dutch Golden Age (à la Rembrandt's
Night Watch
) to
Modern Civic Guards
, a rendering
of Anne Frank, Alfred Heineken and a joint-smoking personification of Amsterdam.
(Kalver-
straat 92; admission free;
10am-5pm;
1/2/5 Spui)
3
Begijnhof
This veiled courtyard of tiny houses and gardens was built in the 14th century for the
Beguines, a lay Catholic sisterhood. Two churches hide here: a 'clandestine' chapel (1671),
where the Beguines worshipped in secret from the Calvinists; and the English Church (c
1392), where Puritans congregated. Both are usually open for browsing. The wooden house
at No 34 (c 1465) is the Netherlands' oldest.
(
HISTORIC BUILDINGS
622 19 18;
www.begijnhofamsterdam.nl
; main entrance
off Gedempte Begijnensloot; admission free;
8am-5pm;
1/2/5 Spui)
4
Dam
SQUARE
