Amsterdam’s medieval Begijnhof was a community of Catholic laywomen who lived and worked together without being cloistered nuns. Its uneven courtyard, rare timber-framed Wooden House, former English church, and still-active Catholic chapel record centuries of changing worship and residential life.
Quick facts
A 1346 document refers to a “beghynhuis”; Amsterdam’s first recorded mention of a courtyard is from 1389.
Begijnhof 34, the Houten Huys, retains a Gothic timber frame and a painted Mary-and-the-Unicorn panel recorded in the national heritage register.
After the 1578 Reformation, the beguines kept their privately owned homes but lost their chapel; English-speaking Presbyterians received the former chapel in 1607.
Get directions to Begijnhof. Confirm the visitor entrance and current access with the venue before travelling.
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Guide
Begijnhof sits just behind Amsterdam’s busy central streets, but its quiet courtyard is not a seventeenth-century charity hofje. It began as a community for beguines: Catholic women who chose a devout life together while retaining more independence than nuns in a cloister. They took a vow of chastity, but could own or inherit property and leave to marry. The women worked in care, teaching, and other forms of service.
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