The Jordaan neighbourhood was planned and built as a working class district during the canal belt project in the early 17th century. Here the canal diggers and bridgebuilders, carpenters and stonemasons settled with their families. Here too came the tanneries, breweries, sugar refineries, smithies, cooperages and other smelly or noisy industries banned from the upmarket canal belt, along with the residences of the artisans and labourers who worked in them.
The name Jordaan wasn't used until a century later and its origin is unclear. The most popular theory is that it's a corruption of the French jardin (garden). After all, many French Huguenots settled here in what used to be the market gardens beyond the city walls the street pattern follows the original grid of ditches and footpaths, and many streets carry names of flowers. Some historians contend that the name had biblical connotations and referred to the Jordan River.
For centuries, the Jordaan remained a thoroughly working class area and the authorities saw it as the unruly heart of the city. It was the first precinct where tarred roads
replaced brick paving because the latter could be turned into barricades and policesmashing projectiles during riots. Early this century one in seven Amsterdammers lived in the Jordaan 1000 people packed to the hectare (100xl00m) in squalid conditions.
New housing estates in Amsterdam's northern, western and southern suburbs brought some relief after WWI, and in the 1960s and 1970s many Jordanese moved to the outlying 'garden suburbs' and the polders of Flevoland. Their places were taken by students, artists and tertiary sector professionals who began to transform the Jordaan into a trendy area, though there are still enough working class and elderly people for it to retain some of its original flavour.
Popular conceptions of the Jordaan linger: it is the 'heart and soul' of the 'real' Amsterdam epitomised in schmaltzy oompah ballads, where life happens on the streets or in the corner pub (rather than in the overcrowded houses) and where common folk still share their experiences; where houses are tiny but tidy, with lace curtains and flowers in window boxes, behind which auntie Greet eyes the street and her front door with the help of a spionnetje ('little spy' mirror) attached to the windowsill; and where living, working, shopping, schooling and entertainment are integrated in the one neighbourhood.
Such popular conceptions still hold true, as you will discover when you wander through the Jordaan and soak up the reallife atmosphere of people going about their daily business. Take your time and don't worry if you get lost (which you will): there are plenty of inviting pubs and restaurants, offbeat shops and weird little art galleries to grab your attention.
The Jordaan is over endowed with lively markets, such as:
Noordermarkt see the earlier Prinsengracht section
Lindengracht general market on Saturday, very much a local affair
Westermarkt on Westerstraat clothes and textiles on Monday
De Looier at Elandsgracht 109 bargain antiques and bric a brac at indoor stalls most days from
11am to 5 pm, Thursday to 9 pm, closed Friday
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries many of the Jordaan's ditches and narrow canals were filled in, mainly for sanitary reasons, though their names remain: Palmgracht, Lindengracht, Rozengracht (now a busy thoroughfare), Elandsgracht. Bloerngracht was the most upmarket of the canals (the 'Herengracht of the Jordaan') and, for that reason, was never filled in: here wealthy artisans built smaller versions of patrician canal houses. Note the row of three step gables at No 87 91, now owned by the Hendrick de Keyser Foundation and known as the Three Hendricks, though they were built in 1645, long after the famous sculptor/architect had died.
The southern tip of the Jordaan beyond Rozengracht is quieter than the area to the north and perhaps less interesting for an aimless wander. It was (and to some extent still is) an area of workshops and artists' studios.
The Jordaan also has a high concentration of hofjes, almshouses consisting of a courtyard surrounded by houses built by wealthy benefactors to house elderly people and widows a noble act in the days before social security. Some hofjes are real gems, with beautifully restored houses and lovingly maintained gardens.
The entrances are usually unobtrusive and hidden behind doors. hofjes became such a popular tourist attraction in recent years that residents complained and in theory they are now closed to the public (the one exception being the famous Begijnhof, discussed in the earlier New Side section). If the entrance is unlocked, however, and if there are only one or two of you and you exercise the necessary discretion, most residents probably won't mind if you take a quick peek. Try the following:
Lindenhofje, Lindengracht 94 112 dating from 1614, the oldest surviving hofje
Suyckerhofje, Lindengracht 149 163 a charming hofje founded in 1670
Karthuizerhofie, Karthuizersstraat 89 171 a hofje for widows, dating from 1650 and on the site of a former Carthusian monastery.
Claes Claeszhofje, Eerste Egelantiersdwarsstraat 3 also known as Anslo's Hofje; three courtyards dating from around 1630; inhabited by music students.
St Andrieshofje, Egelantiersgracht 107 141 the second oldest surviving hofle (finished in 1617), founded by the cattle fanner Jeff Gerritzoon
Venetiae, Elandsstraat 106 136 founded in the mid 1600s by a trader with Venice; features a very pretty garden
