Sightstitality of Amsterdam: Quarter Beginzh (Beginhof)

Beginzh – one of the oldest and most beautiful architectural ensembles of Amsterdam. Beginage is a medieval courtyard, which is located at the meter level below the rest of the old city.

The exact date of its foundation is not known, but the first mention refers to 1307 and 1346. Beginins, or Beguines (Beguines, Beghards) in medieval Europe called members of the Catholic Order, leading the monastic lifestyle, but without oaths and with the right of returning to secular life, peace, and Hof means "courtyard". Accordingly, this territory belonged to the Begino Monastery, where she left lonely or widowed women. Women-Begini lived apart and engaged in socially useful things and led the monastic lifestyle, without taking the vow of celibacy. In 1971, after the death of the last of the Begini, the settlement was restored and began its existence in modern form as an architectural monument.

Nowadays, Beneinhof is an surreal oasis with tiny buildings and gardens around the well-kept indigenous courtyard, where you can get only through a narrow vaulted passage from Spei Square (SPUI). Beginage consists of 47 houses, most of which are built in the Gothic style.

Houses in the courtyard are still a refuge for lonely women, and in one of them there is a charming medieval Church of Begijnhof Kapel – another one "Secret Chapel", in which the inhabitants of the monastery prayed after their gothic church was destroyed by Calvinists. In the southern part of the complex the majestic is towers English church (Engelse Kerk) – It was built approximately in 1392 and was used by the local community of the English and Scottish Presbyterian. Also be sure to pay attention to Het Houten Huis House (Begijnhof, 34) in the southwestern part "rings" – erected approximately in 1465 (according to other data – in 1420-1425.), It is the oldest wooden building in the country and one of the rare examples of gothic architecture in Amsterdam.