Claes Claeszhofje

A narrow, unassuming wooden door set into the brick wall of Egelantiersgracht marks the entrance to Claes Claeszhofje. Behind that threshold lies a secluded courtyard garden surrounded by tiny, seventeenth-century houses. Claes Claesz Anslo, a wealthy cloth merchant, founded this almshouse in sixteen sixteen to provide housing for elderly women in need. He specifically requested that the residents remain undisturbed in their quiet lives. The original stone gable above the entrance still bears his family crest and the year of its founding.