Amici Amsterdam Studio Apartment

The privacy of an apartment and the comfort of a hotel

History of the Jordaan

The Jordaan was built at the end of the 17th century as a neighbourhood for workers and immigrants. Strong population growth took place in the coming centuries as people migrated to the liberal Netherlands to flee religious persecution in the rest of Europe. At that time the Jordaan was an area occupied by the Flemish, Spanish and Portuguese Jews and French Huguenots. It was a very poor neighbourhood of ramshackle houses full disadvantaged families with many children. The canals were open sewers and there was no tap water.

Present-day Jordaan

At the beginning of the twentieth century the population was about eighty thousand inhabitants, while today it’s about twenty thousand people. In the seventies, many of the original Jordaan inhabitants moved away to other districts or regions. Since then, many students, artists, and small businesses have relocated here, as a result of which the neighborhood has  lost its seedy image and is known today for its specialty boutiques, shops and trendy restaurants and cafes.