The Waag (weigh house) used to be an entrance gate in the 15th C city wall, called St. Anthony’s gate.
When the city expanded beyond the wall at the end of the 16th C, the wall was demolished and the gate became the weigh house.
The building housed several guilds, such as the painter’s guild, the mason’s guild and the surgeon’s guild in the 17th C.
Anatomical lessons took place in the building, like the one depicted by Rembrandt: the Anatomical lesson of Dr. Tulp.
For these lessons, that took place during the winter months due to lack of refrigeration, the bodies of convicted criminals were used.
At the beginning of the 19th C the building stopped being used as a weigh house. It then had many different purposes and housed for a while the Jewish historical museum.
Nowadays there are the offices of the Waag society and there is a restaurant.
Hortus Amsterdam
The Hortus Botanicus (Botanical Garden) of Amsterdam dates back to the year 1638. The garden was originally a herb garden for doctors and apothecaries, as botanical extracts were the primary treatments for illnesses during this time period. The Hortus has a collection of more than 6000 species an can be visited daily from 10-17:00.
This winter the garden is open on the following evenings:
19 -23 december, 27-30 december en 2-8 januari the garden is open till 22:00 uur.
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