Begijnhof in Amsterdam

Step through a small gate off the Spui and the noise of the city disappears. The Begijnhof is a courtyard of houses around a garden, built from the 14th century for the Beguines, unmarried Catholic women who lived together in a religious community without taking vows. One of the houses, Het Houten Huys, is one of only two wooden houses left in the centre of Amsterdam. The courtyard is still lived in, so visitors are asked to be quiet. In the middle stands the English Reformed Church, and opposite, hidden behind a house front, a Catholic chapel from the time when Catholic services had to be held out of sight.