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From the Dam to the Begijnhof
Here you'll find out why Amsterdam stayed loyal to Philip II when other cities no longer were, and how it changed sides almost without bloodshed, with a hat as the signal and a pair of clean shirts sent back.
Legends, Myths and Mysteries in Amsterdam: audio walks
Which legends does Amsterdam tell, when were they born and what lies behind them?
6 walks with different starting points and stories. Compare their maps, stops and duration, then choose where to begin.
Explore these walks
Amsterdam's myths sit alongside stories the city repeats about itself. These routes bring mysteries and legends together with attention to their origins and versions. The walks ask what lies behind each tale, so you can enjoy what is told while recognising where established knowledge ends and tradition or interpretation begins.
In “The Jordaan”: The Papists' Tunnel brings a legend into the walk through the Jordaan's houses and places of everyday life.
In “The old harbour and the VOC”: The coachman's house, with its wrongly dated legend, lets you compare a popular tale with the history of the buildings.
In “From the Dam to the Begijnhof”: Here you'll find out why Amsterdam stayed loyal to Philip II when other cities no longer were, and how it changed sides almost without bloodshed, with a hat as the signal and a pair of clean shirts sent back.
Choose from 6 independent walks in Amsterdam. Open the one that interests you to see its map, stops and approximate duration before deciding. You don't need to do them all or follow this selection's order; each walk has its own starting and finishing points.
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Open a marker to see its page. Use two fingers to move the map on mobile.
Western Canals: Anne Frank and the Westerkerk
At the House with the Heads, the legend of a maid who beheaded thieves, which nobody wrote down before 1836, and the true story of Comenius, the persecuted bishop who found refuge with a family grown rich on cannons.
The Jordaan: Courtyards, Warehouses and Uprisings
The Papists' Tunnel brings a legend into the walk through the Jordaan's houses and places of everyday life.
From the Old Harbour to the East India Company
The coachman's house, with its wrongly dated legend, lets you compare a popular tale with the history of the buildings.
From the Mint Tower to the Golden Bend
On the Heiligeweg, the gateway of a house of correction where prisoners rasped wood for dye, and the flooding cell people were already talking about in the eighteenth century, which nobody has ever proved.
The Red-Light District and the Old Harbour
A Catholic church hidden in an attic, the café where Bet van Beeren let gay men and lesbians be themselves from 1927 and, at the end, the Waag: city gate, weigh house and anatomy theatre where executed criminals were dissected, on the square that rose up against the metro in 1975.
Amsterdam, before you go
Canals, bridges and narrow façades invite aimless walks. Enjoy them attentively: between the water, trams and bicycles, the best place to look is a clear patch of pavement.
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