Begijnhof

The Begijnhof hides behind a heavy wooden door that opens into a quiet, enclosed courtyard. It originated in the fourteenth century as a sanctuary for the Beguines, laywomen who lived like nuns but took no permanent vows. While the surrounding city grew dense and commercial, this circle of houses remained a private religious enclave. Cornelia Arens, the last Beguine, died here in nineteen seventy-one, and the courtyard now holds a mix of private residences and a hidden, narrow chapel.