Hofje Venetiae: Venice in a Jordaan Courtyard
Why is it significant?
Look for a modest gate in the Elandsstraat with a single word on it that seems to belong somewhere else entirely: Venetiae. Venice, in Latin, on a street in the Jordaan. Behind it lies a small courtyard garden, framed by low almshouse homes.
Key Facts
| Place | Hofje Venetiae: Venice in a Jordaan Courtyard |
|---|---|
| Address | Elandsstraat 106, 1016 SH Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.37040, 4.87930 |
| Part of Walk | Behind the Green Doors: Hidden Hofjes and Market Days of the Jordaan, Amsterdam |
| Generated | Generated |
Look for a modest gate in the Elandsstraat with a single word on it that seems to belong somewhere else entirely: Venetiae. Venice, in Latin, on a street in the Jordaan. Behind it lies a small courtyard garden, framed by low almshouse homes.
The Hofje Venetiae was founded in the middle of the seventeenth century, at the height of Amsterdam's Golden Age. Why Venice? The usual explanation is that the founder had grown rich trading with the Venetian republic, and gave his charity the name of the city that had given him his fortune. It is a good story, and an Amsterdam one: two great merchant cities on the water, one of them on the rise and the other slowly sinking, at least in its power.
In fact Amsterdam liked to think of itself as the new Venice. Both were republics of merchants, both were built on wooden piles driven into mud, both lived on ships, and visitors compared them constantly. Amsterdam's Golden Age elite read Italian, bought Italian paintings and borrowed Italian architecture for their palaces, including the town hall on the Dam.
Like every hofje on this walk, Venetiae is still home to residents, so the same rule applies: if the gate is open, enter like a guest, if not, enjoy the name and walk on. Notice, too, how the hofjes have followed us from the north to the south of the Jordaan. There were once dozens of them in this quarter, small islands of order and green in one of the most crowded neighbourhoods in Europe, built by rich men who wanted to be remembered kindly.
Around here the street names change their theme: Elandsgracht, elk canal, and Looiersgracht, tanners' canal, once the domain of leatherworkers and their smells. And the last stop of the walk belongs not to merchants or regents, but to the people of the Jordaan themselves. Follow the Elandsstraat east towards the Prinsengracht, and at the end of the Elandsgracht you will find a little square full of singers in bronze.