Gouda - Pipe Museum

Farther south from the Catharina Gasthuis Municipal Museum, on the other side of the canal, is the De Moriaan Pipe Museum, in a 17th century merchant's house. In addition to tobacco the merchant dealt in pepper, tea and sugar refined on the premises. ("De Moriaan" means the "Moor" or "black man", the 18th century symbol of smoking). In the old tobacco and herb shop is displayed an interesting collection of Gouda clay pipes - in the early 17th century Gouda was the main center of the Dutch pipe-making industry - pottery and tiles of the 16th and 17th centuries.