Page 81 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands

OUDE ZIJDE  79

used the plant for medicines forty portraits of European
and clothing. It was first used in humanist scholars, including
the Netherlands, according to a one of Erasmus (1466–1536).
herbal manual of 1554, as a cure The Agnietenkapel once
for earache. housed the University of
Until the late 19th century, Amsterdam Museum; now the
however, hemp was the main museum’s collection can be
source of fibre for rope, and seen in Oude Turfmarkt 129
was therefore important in the (next to the Allard Pierson
Dutch shipping industry. Other Museum). A conference centre
Part of the commemorative photo display exhibits relate to the psycho ac- has taken its place.
in Nieuwmarkt metro station tive properties of this plant. They
include an intriguing array
3 Nieuwmarkt of pipes and bongs (smoking
devices), along with displays that
Map 2 E5. v 4, 9, 16. q Nieuwmarkt.
Antiques market: Open May–Sep: 9am– explain smuggling methods.
5pm Sun. ( Organic farmers’ market: The museum also has a small
Open 9am–5pm Sat. cultivation area where plants
are grown under artificial light.
An open, paved square, the Police sometimes raid and take
Nieuwmarkt is flanked to the west away exhibits, so there may be
by the Red Light District. With the occasional gaps in displays.
top end of the Geldersekade, it
forms Amsterdam’s Chinatown.
The Waag dominates the square, 5 Agnietenkapel
and construction of this gateway Oudezijds Voorburgwal 231. Map 2 D5.
led to the site’s development in v 4, 9, 14, 16. Closed to the public.
the 15th century as a market-
place. When the city expanded The Agnietenkapel was part
in the 17th century (see pp68–9), of the convent of St Agnes
the square took on its present until 1578 when it was closed
dimensions and was called the after the Alteration. In 1632,
Nieuwmarkt. It retains an array of the Athenaeum Illustre, the Entrance to Agnietenkapel, now a
17th- and 18th-century gabled precursor of the University university conference centre
houses. True to tradition, an of Amsterdam, took over the
antiques market is held on building and by the mid- 6 Oudemanhuis‑
Sundays during the summer. 17th century it was a centre
The old Jewish Quarter of scientific learning. It also poort
leads off the square down housed the municipal library Between Oudezijds Achterburgwal
St Antoniesbreestraat. In the until the 1830s. The and Kloveniersburgwal. Map 2 D5.
1970s, many houses here were Agnietenkapel itself dates from v 4, 9, 14, 16. Book market:
demolished to make way for 1470, and is one of the few Open 10am–5pm Mon–Sat.
the metro, sparking off clashes Gothic chapels to have survived
between protesters and police. the Alteration. During The Oudemanhuispoort was
The action of con ser vationists restoration from 1919 to 1921, once the entrance to old people’s
persuaded the council to adopt elements of the Amsterdam almshouses (Oudemannenhuis),
a policy of renovating rather School architecture were built in 1754. Today the building
than redeveloping old buildings. introduced (see pp146–7). is part of the University of
Photographs of their protests Despite these changes Amsterdam.The pediment
decorate the metro station. and long periods over the gateway in
of secular use, the Oudezijds
4 Hash Marihuana the building Achterburgwal
features a pair
still has the
Hemp Museum feel of a of spectacles,
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 148. Franciscan a symbol
Map 2 D5. Tel 020-6248926. v 4, 9, chapel. The large of old age.
14, 16. q Nieuwmarkt. Open 10am– auditorium on the Crest of Amsterdam, Trading inside this
10pm. Closed 27 Apr. & = first floor is the oldest Oudemanhuispoort covered walkway dates
in the city. It has a from 1757 and today
This museum, which has a lovely ceiling, painted with there is a market for second-hand
branch in Barcelona, charts the Renaiss ance motifs and a books. Although the building is
history of hemp (marijuana). portrait of Minerva, the Roman closed to the public, visitors may
Exhibits refer back 8,000 years to goddess of wisdom and the enter the 18th-century courtyard
early Asiatic civilizations, which arts. The walls are hung with via the arcade.

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