London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

Het Spui

Amsterdam is known for its canals, not its public squares, but Het Spui is quite welcoming all the same. The name means roughly sluice or floodgate, pointing to the unsurprisingly watery origins of the place.

At first, it was a canal like any other and was only filled in during the nineteenth century: The first part in 1867 when the neighbouring Nieuwezijds Achterburgwal was filled in, the rest in 1882, two years before the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal.

The Spui (pronounced “spouw” — unless Dawie van die bliksem corrects me) is a focal point surrounded by a number of sights. There’s the Old Lutheran Church, where the Maatschappij tot Nut van ’t Algemeen met in its early years and still a working congregation today.

There’s the Maagdenhuis, built as a Catholic orphanage and also the seat of the Archpriest of Holland and Zeeland until the restoration of the hierarchy in 1856. The orphanage moved out in 1957 when the building became a bank branch but was purchased by the University of Amsterdam in 1962 to house the administration of the growing institution.

An entrance to the neighbouring Begijnhof is here too, with its English Reformed Church where the Mayflower Pilgrims worshipped before heading off to New England. The Begijnhof also houses the Eucharistic shrine of the St John & St Ursula Chapel.

Two of the city’s best booksellers are here also: the Athenaeum Boekhandel — with its excellent news and magazine shop as well — and the American Book Centre for English-speaking titles.

The jewel of the Spui, however, is Café Hoppe which has been here since 1670. I wouldn’t at all mind sitting there right now having an oude genewer or two or three with a few mates.

Now that the Eurostar goes direct from St Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal we will have to plan another visit for once the plague departs.

Published at 4:35 pm on Monday 15 February 2021. Categories: Architecture Netherlands Tags: , .
Comments

I’m glad the Dutch decided to bike around Amsterdam instead of keeping it clogged with cars. In the US this sort of beautiful space would be a parking lot and three quaters of the buildings around it would have been torn down for more parking. Bring back Oglethorpe’s Savannah, you cowards — sorry, got off track there.

— Matthew Robare 26 Jul 2021 3:31 am

The Spui is great. Is that my photo on the top?

— John Massengale 6 Aug 2021 1:09 am

I yield to no one as an Amsterdam fanatic, but I have always felt depressed when walking through het Spui or indeed any of the too frequent squares of that otherwise magical city.
The same is true, but more acutely, in gravely stylish Den Haag, which dispensed with most of its canals all too long ago. Those few which remain give an evocative glamour to otherwise not particularly distinguished grachten: Smidswater and Hooigracht are the best.

— LGClark 17 Aug 2021 9:50 pm
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