The Kalverstraat (, ) is a busy shopping street of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, the capital of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The street runs roughly North-South for about 750 meters, from

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital and most populated city of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. ...

Muntplein The Muntplein (Mint Square) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam. The square is in fact a bridge — the widest bridge in Amsterdam — that crosses the Singel canal at the point where it flows into the Amstel river. All bridges in Amsterdam a ...

square. The Kalverstraat is the most expensive shopping street in the Netherlands, with rents of up to 3000 euros per square meter (2016). In 2009 it was the 17th most expensive street in the world measured by rent prices.Parool.nl "Kalverstraat stijgt plek in lijst duurste winkelstraten"
Parool.nl, 13 November 2013 (Dutch) The Kalverstraat is also the most expensive street in the Dutch version of

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

. The

Amsterdam Museum The Amsterdam Museum, known until 2010 as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, is an Amsterdam-based museum dedicated to the city's past and present. Due to the renovation of its main location, the museum is temporarily located in the Amstelhof on the ...

is located in a former orphanage between Kalverstraat and

Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal The Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal () is a street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs north-south without intersecting major streets other than the intersection with Raadhuisstraat at its halfway point, right behind the Royal Palace. On the eas ...

History

After the construction of the medieval city walls, the street between

Munttoren The Munttoren (; "Mint Tower") or Munt () is a tower in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It stands on the busy Muntplein (Amsterdam), Muntplein square, where the Amstel river and the Singel (Amsterdam), Singel canal meet, near the flower market and the east ...

(originally a gate in the city walls) and

Spui A single-point urban interchange (SPUI, or ), also called a single-point interchange (SPI) or single-point diamond interchange (SPDI), is a type of highway interchange. The design was created in order to help move large volumes of traffic t ...

square came to be known as ''Byndewyck''. The street later became known as Kalverstraat ("calf street"), after the cattle market that was held here from 1486 until 1629. In 1345 a

eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

ic miracle was said to have taken place in a home between the Kalverstraat in the

Rokin The Rokin is a canal and major street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs from Muntplein, Amsterdam, Muntplein square to Dam Square, Dam square. The Rokin canal used to run from Muntplein square to Dam Square, but in 1936, the part between ...

. The event is commemorated by the annual

Stille Omgang A ''stille omgang'' ("Silent Walk" or circumambulation) is an informal ritual that serves as substitute for the Roman Catholic processions that were prohibited after the Reformation in the Netherlands in the 16th century until the abolition of th ...

procession. A chapel, the

Heilige Stede Nieuwezijds Kapel (Dutch - New Side's Chapel), or Heilige Stede (Dutch - holy site) or Chapel of the Heilige Stede refers to a site in Amsterdam that includes shops and a Dutch Reformed church built in 1908 on the site of a church once called the ...

, was built on the spot where the miracle was said to have occurred. The

Heiligeweg The Heiligeweg (Dutch - Holy Street or Holy Way) is the street in Amsterdam that used to lead from the Kapel ter Heilige Stede (Chapel of the Holy Site, a pilgrimage chapel on the site where the 1345 Miracle of Amsterdam occurred) to the Kalver ...

connected the Kalverstraat with this pilgrim chapel, and with

Leidsestraat Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans, ...

. Painter

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

lived at Kalverstraat 154 from 1892 to 1895. The first

HEMA Hema may refer to: * Hemā (mythology), a figure from Polynesian mythology * HEMA (store), a Dutch chain of stores * Hema (supermarket) (盒马), a supermarket chain in China * Hema maps, an Australian map publisher * Hema people, an ethnic grou ...

department store opened on the Kalverstraat in 1926. On May 7, 1945, drunk German soldiers shooting from the windows of a building at the corner of Kalverstraat and Dam square killed 19 civilians celebrating their liberation from the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. A fire in the Kalverstraat on May 9, 1977, claimed 33 lives.

References

External links

Kalverstraat.nl
website of the Kalverstraat {{coord, 52, 22, 11, N, 4, 53, 28, E, type:landmark, display=title Streets in Amsterdam Shopping districts and streets in the Netherlands Pedestrian streets in the Netherlands

History

See also

References

External links