A characteristic feature of the canal ring and the centre of Amsterdam are the many ‘hofjes’, courtyards off the busy street and lined with tiny houses. You are now in the most well-known courtyard of Amsterdam: the ‘Begijnhof’, called after the Béguines, the nuns who lived here for centuries.

This courtyard also contains one of the few remaining wooden houses in Amsterdam, although, in the Middle Ages, nearly all the houses in the city were built of wood. Over the years, the other wooden houses have either been replaced or burned down, because living in a wooden house was always risky. Most households cooked their daily meals over an open fire inside the house, so it not very surprising that many large fires broke out in the city during the Middle Ages. Consequently, around the year 1450, the city administrators prohibited the building of houses with wooden side walls; later wooden façades were prohibited too.

Maybe you have noticed something else about the ‘Begijnhof’ besides the wooden house? Perhaps you have seen that the courtyard is slightly lower than the area that surrounds it? Why do you suppose it is lower? Do the quiz to find out.