Amsterdam - Beguine Convent Begijnhof

The Begijnhof is a tiny idyllic spot in the center of the city where nowadays elderly ladies without families and young women students live for a very low rent. The green lawn of the courtyard is surrounded by houses which include some of the oldest in Amsterdam, among them the only remaining wooden house in the city. In 1346 the buildings, which at that time still lay outside the city boundaries, were endowed for pious Catholic girls (begijnen) who wanted to live in a religious community but not in the seclusion of a convent.

They devoted themselves to the care of the poor and sick. In a "Begijnhof" they were not called upon to abandon their personal freedom and could leave whenever they wished. They had their own accommodation and were not required to renounce personal possessions. When Amsterdam went over to Protestantism the "begijnen" had to make their church over to the English Presbyterian community and hold their services in secret in a small chapel opposite the church. The Begijnhof was turned into almshouses but the "begijnen" retained the right to be buried in their "old" church. The last "begijn" died in 1971.