• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 641 0

it was a highly politicized area, where protests against poor conditions were frequent, often coordinated by an influential and well-organized Communist Party. In the postwar period the slums were either cleared or renovated, but rocketing property prices in the wealthier parts of the city pushed middle-class professionals into the Jordaan from the early 1980s. This process of gentrification was at first much resented, but today the area is home to many young and affluent “alternative” Amsterdammers, who rub shoulders more or less affably with working-class Jordaaners with long-standing local roots.

The Jordaan and Western docklands | The Jordaan |

Leidsegracht and Elandsgracht

The southern boundary of the Jordaan is generally deemed to be the Leidsegracht, though this is open to debate; according to dyed-in-the-wool locals the true Jordaaner is born within earshot of the Westerkerk bells, and you’d be hard-pushed to hear the chimes this far south. The narrow streets and canals just to the north of the Leidsegracht are routinely modern, but Elandsgracht does hold, at no. 109, the enjoyable indoor De Looier antiques market (daily 11am–5pm; closed Fri), which is good for picking up mainly Dutch bygones, including tiles and ceramics, with a few stalls dealing in specialist wares such as silver trinkets or delftware. There are a couple of cafés inside too, and on Elandsgracht itself you might pause to look at the statues of Johnny Jordaan and Tante Leen, accompanied by musicians – two twentieth-century singers who were for years the sound of the working-class Jordaan, and whose songs are still remembered and sung in some of the more raucous cafés in the area. Football fanatics will also want to take a peek at the sports shop at Elandsgracht 96, where Johan Cruyff – star of Ajax in the 1970s and one of the greatest players of all time – bought his first pair of football boots.

De Looier antiques market

The Jordaan and Western docklands | The Jordaan | Leidsegracht and Elandsgracht |

The Jordaan’s hofjes

One feature of the Jordaan’s varied architectural pleasures is its hofjes – almshouses built around a central courtyard and originally occupied by the city’s elderly and needy. There were – and are – hofjes all over the city (most famously the Begijnhof), but there’s a real concentration here in the Jordaan. Most date back to the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, but the majority have been rebuilt or at least overhauled – and all are still lived in, often by those people they were originally built for. The Jordaan’s most diverting hofjes are the Karthuizerhofje, on Karthuizersstraat (see "Westerstraat"), and the Suyckerhofje on Lindengracht.

The Jordaan and Western docklands | The Jordaan |

Lijnbaansgracht and Rozengracht

The narrow Lijnbaansgracht (Ropewalk Canal) threads its way round most of the city centre, and in between Elandsgracht and Rozenstraat its lapping waters are flanked by cobbled, leafy streets lined with old brick buildings. On Rozenstraat itself, at no. 59, is an annex of the Stedelijk Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Bureau (Tues–Sun 11am–5pm; free; www.smba.nl), which provides space for up-and-coming Amsterdam artists, with small-scale exhibitions, installations and occasional lectures and readings.

One block further north, Rozengracht lost its canal years ago and is now a busy and somewhat unattractive main road, though it was here at no. 184 that Rembrandt spent the last ten years of his life – a scrolled plaque set high into the wall distinguishes his old home. Rembrandt’s last years were scarred by the death of his partner Hendrickje in 1663 and his son Titus five years later, but nevertheless it was in this period that he produced some of his finest work. Also dated to these years is The Jewish Bride, a touchingly warm and heartfelt portrait of a bride and her husband, completed in 1668 and now in the Rijksmuseum. From Rozengracht, it’s the shortest of walks to the Westerkerk and the Anne Frank Huis.

The Jordaan and Western docklands | The Jordaan |

Bloemgracht

The streets and canals