Negen Straatjes

Negen Straatjes
—  Neighborhood of Amsterdam  —
Country	Netherlands
Province	North Holland
COROP	Amsterdam
Borough
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)

Street signs of the nine Straatjes.

Negen Straatjes (Dutch for "nine little streets") is a neighborhood of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It consists of nine side streets of the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Singel in central Amsterdam which have been promoting themselves with that name since the 1990s. Together they form a sub-neighborhood within the larger western Grachtengordel ("Canal Belt"), one with many small and diverse shops and restaurants. The construction in this area goes back to the first half of the 17th century.

The Negen Straatjes is bordered on the north by the Raadhuisstraat and on the south by the Leidsegracht. In between, the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Singel are interesected by three cross streets - but each of the cross streets has different names in each of its sections between the canals.

From the Prinsengracht towards the Singel and beginning with the northernmost streets, the streets are:

• Reestraat ("Roe Deer Street") - Hartenstraat ("Hearts Street") - Gasthuismolensteeg ("Inn Mill Alley")
• Berenstraat ("Bear Street") - Wolvenstraat ("Wolf Street") - Oude Spiegelstraat ("Old Mirror Street")
• Runstraat ("Cow Street") - Huidenstraat ("Skins" or "Pelts Street") - Wijde Heisteeg ("Wide Heath Street")

The names are reminders of many of the types of work that were carried out here in centuries past, especially the processing of skins (cow, bear, wolf and roe deer skins).

Area attractions

• The Brillenmuseum (Museum of Eyeglasses) in the Gasthuismolensteeg
• The Bijbels Museum (Bible Museum) on the Herengracht
• The European Center for Art, Culture and Science in the Felix Meritis house on the Keizersgracht
• The Dutch Institute for War Documentation (Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie) (NIOD) on the Herengracht

The yearly Prinsengrachtconcert ("Prinsengracht Concert") in August takes places at the corner of the Prinsengracht and the Reestraat.

The "tenth" street

In recent years the Hazenstraat, a side street of the Elandsgracht in the Jordaan, close to the Negen Straatjes, has called itself the Tenth Street (Dutch: Tiende Straatje).

Gallery

• 

  Runstraat / Prinsengracht, 2010

• 

  Keizersgracht / Huidenstraat, 2011

• 

  Herengracht / Oude Spiegelstraat, 2010

External links

• de 9 Straatjes
• 9straatjesonline