Sint Anthony Gasthuis
Sint Anthony Gasthuis was founded in 1517 to care for the poor and sick. Initially, the guest house was inhabited by poor elderly people, but later also by plague sufferers (1608-1644).
Take a closer look
That these people ended up in this hospice is not surprising. The Towns preferred not to have the sick and insane too close to them. So the location of the guesthouse, just outside de Oosterpoort on the outskirts of the city was ideal.
From 1702 (until 1844), the Anthony Gasthuis took over the status of madhouse from the Pepper and Pelstergasthuis. From then on, the mentally ill were given shelter here. A lucrative development for the hospice, as the patients' boarding fees provided a stable income. In addition, the patients were a tourist attraction on Sunday afternoons, attracting many visitors.
At the front (on Rademarkt) i...
That these people ended up in this hospice is not surprising. The Towns preferred not to have the sick and insane too close to them. So the location of the guesthouse, just outside de Oosterpoort on the outskirts of the city was ideal.
From 1702 (until 1844), the Anthony Gasthuis took over the status of madhouse from the Pepper and Pelstergasthuis. From then on, the mentally ill were given shelter here. A lucrative development for the hospice, as the patients' boarding fees provided a stable income. In addition, the patients were a tourist attraction on Sunday afternoons, attracting many visitors.
At the front (on Rademarkt), the courtyard is accessed through a seventeenth-century, beautifully carved sandstone gate. The rear court was realised in 1927 with the construction of a number of houses in a simple Amsterdam Style. It is easy to see from the various gable stones that the Sint Anthony Gasthuis went through quite a few alterations and renovations over the centuries.