Sint Andrieshofje and the Egelantiersgracht
Why is it significant?
Walk along the water of the Egelantiersgracht, under the elms, past houseboats and leaning gables, and find number 107. If the door is open, step into the passage and stop. The walls are lined, floor to ceiling, with blue-and-white glazed tiles, cool and shining, like walking into a Delft plate.
Key Facts
| Place | Sint Andrieshofje and the Egelantiersgracht |
|---|---|
| Address | Egelantiersgracht 107, 1015 RE Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Geo Coordinates | 52.37550, 4.88030 |
| Part of Walk | Behind the Green Doors: Hidden Hofjes and Market Days of the Jordaan, Amsterdam |
| Generated | Generated |
Walk along the water of the Egelantiersgracht, under the elms, past houseboats and leaning gables, and find number 107. If the door is open, step into the passage and stop. The walls are lined, floor to ceiling, with blue-and-white glazed tiles, cool and shining, like walking into a Delft plate.
This is the Sint Andrieshofje, founded in the 1610s and completed around 1617, which makes it one of the oldest hofjes in Amsterdam... after the Begijnhof, it is usually called the second oldest. Beyond the tiles waits a small courtyard garden, closed in on all sides by little homes.
What makes it remarkable is its faith. After 1578 Amsterdam was a Protestant city, and Catholics could not worship in public. Yet this hofje was founded for Catholic residents, right in the middle of the new Calvinist district. The city tolerated a great deal, as long as you were discreet about it, and a closed door on a quiet canal was the most discreet thing in the world.
Egelantier is the old Dutch word for the eglantine, the sweet briar rose, and this is the canal that ends up on postcards. At the far eastern end of the canal, at number 12, stands a tiny café with a terrace almost on the water, 't Smalle. The story goes that in the late eighteenth century a distiller called Pieter Hoppe made jenever, Dutch gin, in the building and ran a tasting room, where customers would sip the first glass bent over the bar without lifting it, so as not to spill a drop.
That little bow over a brimming glass is still how many Amsterdammers take their first jenever. Try it some evening... but not before the end of the walk. For now, walk east along the water and turn left into the Eerste Egelantiersdwarsstraat, where another hofje has a story that runs all the way to Norway.