Open Monumentendag Gouda
Program 2024 Highlights
Welcome
Welcome to Gouda and the Heritage Open Days 2024. This year’s theme is: ‘Connections’
The city of Gouda owes its existence to the location on the Gouwe river, which flows into the Hollandsche IJssel river.
Many ships passed through the city of Gouda and stayed for several days, which was good for trade and brought prosperity to the city.
Opening hours 2024
Saturday September 14th 10.00-17.00 hrs. | Sunday September 15th 12.00-17.00 hrs. Different opening hours apply to some monuments.
Monument | Address | Description | Activity | |
Markt and surroundings | ||||
Sat. Sun | Markt 1 | After the major city fire of 1438, the city council decided that the new Town Hall should be free and chose the market field. It was build between 1448 and 1459. This Gothic town hall is an expression which symbolizes the growing and importance of the middle class and its trade and industry. It is one of the oldest town halls in the Netherlands. During ‘modernization’ in 1960 the building was lavishly decorated with classical symbols. | Central information point Heritage Open Days: Old Townhall, rear of the building. | |
Sat. Sun | Markt 35 | This authentic building was designed in 1668 by architect Pieter Post. The weigh house is a symbol of the importance of trade in 17th century Gouda. The ground floor was formerly used to weigh cheese. | Groud floor: Gouda Tourist Information, including a small cheese and souvenir shop. First floor: the Cheese and Crafts Museum. | |
Sat. | Nieuwe Markt 100 | Remains of the St. Agnes convent built around 1450. Flemish tapestry weavers and wool dyers used the chapel as a workshop as from 1585. In front of the chapel foundations of dyeing tubs were found and are now indicated in the pavement. After 1653 the building was long used as a pawn shop. Nowadays the chapel is primarily in use for exhibitions and concerts. | Sat. Art exhibition. | |
Achter de Kerk and surroundings | ||||
Sat.Sun | Tabacco shop | Wijdstraat 20 | Oldest tobacco shop in the Netherlands from 1836. The 'Eenhoorn' (Unicorn) also housed a tobacco carving and cigar factory. Famous for the Gouda clay pipes. | |
Sat. | Achter de Kerk 2 | The Sint-Jan is a late Gothic church, built after the great fire of 1552. It was named after John the Baptist, the patron saint of Gouda. With its 123 meters it is the longest church in the country. Most of the 72 famous stained glass windows were made in the second half of the 16th century by the Crabeth brothers. Audio tours are available. | Sat. 10.00-16.30 hrs.: organ concerts. Sat. 10.30+11.30+13.00+14.30+15.30 hrs.: guided tours to the large Moreau organ, including a beautiful view of the length of the church. | |
Sat. Sun | Achter de Kerk 14 Disabled entrance Oosthaven 9 | The museum is located in a former guesthouse. This St. Catherine's Guesthouse was meant for travellers and for needy and ill people. | Sat. 11.00-16.00 hrs.: guided tours, free admission. Sun.: normal admission prices.
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Sat. | Willem Vroesenplein 1. Zijpoort t.h.v. Spieringstraat 2 | In 1555 Willem Vroesen transformed his house into almshouses for men. The white empire front was added in the 19th century. In the side wall (Spieringstraat) notice the door decorated with stoneware illustrations of old men and governors. Probably made by the town’s stone mason Gregorius Cool. The almshouses have been transformed into private dwellings. | ||
Sat | Swanenburgh's courtyard | Groeneweg 42 | These almshouses for poor old women were built in 1692. There is a small plaque over the entrance showing a castle (burcht) and a swan (zwaan). Hence the name Swanenburgh | |
Sun | Jeruzalemstraat 11 | Grateful for his safe return from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, father Gijsbert Raet built this chapel around 1500. The building is unique with its 12 sides roof. The design was inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Upon his death in 1511 Raet was buried in his own chapel. During the 2004 restoration parts of his skeleton were found. They were reburied and are visible in the house next to the chapel. This 'Schoolmaster House' was built in the second half of the 18th century. | Sun. 13.00+14.00+15.00 hrs.: music, Now & Forever, easy listening classics. | |
Lange Tiendeweg and surroundings | ||||
Oosthaven / Westhaven and surroundings | ||||
Sat.Sun | near Dubbele Buurt 12 | Originated shortly after 1250. After building the second lock near the river Hollandsche IJssel in 1615 this area became the longest lock in the world, then and now, being almost 800 metres. The Dark Lock is part of a flushing system used to clean the canals. | Sat. 13.00+14.00+15.00 hrs.: demonstrations by the Guild of Lock Keepers. Za. 14.00-16.00 hrs.: Shanty choirs West-Zuid-West & Gouds Getij. | |
Sat. | Oosthaven 31C | In 1943 all Jewish residents were deported to Sobibor. As a memorial there are 64 stones (‘stolpersteine’) in front of the entrance to the building. | ||
Sat. Sun | The Morian | Westhaven 29 | This building dates back to the 16th century. In the 18th century a tobacco shop was located here. Twisted tobacco rolls can be seen on the façade. | Interior closed. |
Sat. | Westhaven 39 | Building from 1760 with frame façade from the 19th century. The baroque staircase has a coloured skylight. The main room is decorated with a ceiling of painted stucco. In the basement with whites and tile panels, old tiles have been found underneath the existing marble floor. | ||
Sat. | Westhaven 40 | House with Renaissance façade from 1605. In 1634, writer/poet Florentius Schoonhoven moved into the building, whose family coat of arms adorns the plaque. The older cellar was given a 17th-century 'modern' side/sewer system. In 1976 the lower façade was reconstructed to the 17th century. | ||
Sat. Sun | Former sailmaker and rigging company | Westhaven 65 | One of the oldest stone buildings in Gouda, first half of the 16th century. The style is late Gothic: natural stone bands and profiled door jambs. The upstairs room has a beamed ceiling with tendrils and birds, painted in 1630 by Antony Hendricksz. From 1563 to 1990, the Endenburg sailmaker and rigging company was located here. | |
Sat. Sun | Westhaven 73-74 | In the 15th century, there was already a count's tollhouse at this strategic location on the Hollandsche IJssel. In 1623 the Lock Keeper's House was added. The plaque with the coat of arms of Holland dates from 1631. The Toll House served until 1795. After the flood disaster of 1953, the flow between the Hollandsche IJssel and the Port was dammed. | Interior closed. | |
(Nieuwe) Veerstal and surroundings | ||||
Sat. | Corn Mill 't Slot | Punt 17 | Corn tower mill built in 1832 on the foundations of the Gouda Castle (1385-1577). After tearing down the caste a windmill was built on this spot and rebuilt in the 17th century. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1831 and replaced by the present mill. | |
Mallegatsluis / Vest and surroundings | ||||
Sat. Sun | Mallegatsluis & Sluiswachters-woning Mallegat Lock & Lock Keeper's House | Veerstal 9 | The historic Mallegat Lock dates from 1577 and was relocated and rebuild in 1764. The modernisation with electric lifting doors dates from 1941/42. The lock leads from the low-lying inland water to the Hollandsche IJssel. Here, it's still a tidal river; very special this far inland. | |
Sat. Sun | IJsselhuis / Voormalig Schipperswachtlokaal Bargemen waiting room | Schielands Hoge Zeedijk 1 | Built in 1912 in chalet style as a room for skippers and bargemen waiting for passage through the locks. The heavily deteriorated building was restored in 1980 and then used as a café. | Sat. 11.00-16.00 hrs.: Kleintheater Zwaan, performances. Sat. 14.00-16.00 hrs.: Shanty choirs West-Zuid-West & Gouds Getij. |
Sat. Sun | Vest 252 | The Gouda Museum Harbour offers a berth to occupants of monumental commercial vessels that defined the image on the water in the early 1900s to the fifties. The aim is to preserve old Dutch ship types and the corresponding harbour atmosphere in the Gouda cityscape. There are now some twenty vessels used as dwellings. Restored and maintained by the skippers' families themselves. A little further along the quay is the small repair
| Sat. 11.00-16.00 hrs.: Kleintheater Zwaan, performances. | |
Buurtje and surroundings | ||||
Vest / Turfsingel and surroundings | ||||
Hoge Gouwe / Lage Gouwe and surroundings | ||||
Sat. Sun | near Hoge Gouwe 19 / Lage Gouwe 23 | In the 15th century, Gouda already had a fish market on this spot. The two colonnade buildings were built in 1676. The commissary's cottage dates from the 18th century. The marketplace on the Lage Gouwe was for the people of Gouda, the one on the Hoge Gouwe for traders from outside. Until 1850 both were connected by a wooden stair bridge. | ||
Sat. Sun | Hoge Gouwe 39 | The neo-Gothic church was built between 1902 It's tower (80 meters) is the highest point in Gouda. In 2023 the building was renovated for multicultural use. | Sun. 15.15-16.00 hrs.: concert Nieuw Geluid, Dvořák Symfony nr. 9 ‘Uit de Nieuwe Wereld’ (From the New World). | |
Sat. | Hoge Gouwe 107 | As from 1630 several buildings were combined to establish a secret church for the Catholic community. Between 1863 and 1868 a new neo classical front and interior were added. The church owns iconic vestments and altar decorations richly embroided and dating from the 15th and 16th century. Now partly on display in Museum Gouda. | ||
Sat. Sun | Amsterdam's Lock | near Hoge Gouwe 141 / Lage Gouwe 174 | The name refers to travelling – this is where the barge left for Amsterdam. The lock chamber between the Amsterdams Verlaat (1436) and the Dark Lock measured 400 metres, doubled by the construction of the Harbour Lock (1615). This is how the longest lock in the world was created. The cast-iron swing bridge from 1867 is named after glazier Dirck Crabeth. The lock keeper's shelter is a replica from 2007. | |
Turfmarkt and surroundings | ||||
Sun | House of mirrors | Turfmarkt 51 | The Gouda Spiegeltent was built in 1912. In 1981 the tent was restored and built up in a warehouse in Gouda. The atmosphere and authenticity are very special. | |
Sun | Former Synagogue | Turfmarkt 23 | In 1798 the Jewish community bought an empty | |
Nieuwe Haven and surroundings | ||||
Outside Singels North-East | ||||
Outside Singels South-West |