Exploring Dordrecht - The Court of the Augustines

An afternoon in
Dordrecht
oldest town of
Holland
January 16th, 2000

Launched January 29th, 2000
Ronald Langereis - 2004 © - Amsterdam
Relaunch March 5, 2004

Court of the Augustines

Click to enlarge

Court Street Winding our way through the historic inner town we hit on Court Street that starts out from the corner of a major square beside a church (left), and gently curving to the left itself led us to the Court of the Augustines.
On the map, however, made in the mid 17th century, there's no trace of Court Street yet to be seen, as it runs now from the left by an uncovered gate straight into the Court. If there wasn't a Court Street in existence in 1651 the 'Magpie' stone of that year, decorating one of its present houses, must have come from elsewhere. Re-use of antique spares is common practice. The whole lantern of a demolished house in Wine Street is sailing high on one of the churches now.
Apparently the layout of this part of the town has been radically changed during the second part of the 17th century. Anyhow, a breakthrough must have been made into the original enclosure of the monastery, for at present, as can be seen on the next picture, nothing remains of the original southern wing. During recent restorations the lay of the former buildings and walls have been preserved to the view by using differently coloured stones in the pavement, as the picture shows.
In the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands the Reformation took root from the first half of the 16th century onward, spreading like a hay-fire. A century later the Roman Catholic faith had been almost stamped out, leaving little room for awe at the stone relics of the conquered creed. Church property was disowned, if not dismantled and former places of worship, if felt an obstacle to growth of the Protestant aspirations and trade were taken down without hesitation.
In the case of the Court of the Augustines the new zeal resulted in a replacement of the southern wing by the diversity of buildings shown and the transformation of the remaining wings into an old men's home.
The taller building on the left served as a guild-hall, the heavy oak door in the picturesque central tower giving entrance to it.

Court and chapel of the Augustines from Blaeu's Atlas, 1652

The present Court, seen to the south

Contents
Welcome
Introduction The Gate Ornamental stones The Court Epilogue

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Click to enlarge Court Street	Winding our way through the historic inner town we hit on Court Street that starts out from the corner of a major square beside a church (left), and gently curving to the left itself led us to the Court of the Augustines. On the map, however, made in the mid 17th century, there's no trace of Court Street yet to be seen, as it runs now from the left by an uncovered gate straight into the Court. If there wasn't a Court Street in existence in 1651 the 'Magpie' stone of that year, decorating one of its present houses, must have come from elsewhere. Re-use of antique spares is common practice. The whole lantern of a demolished house in Wine Street is sailing high on one of the churches now. Apparently the layout of this part of the town has been radically changed during the second part of the 17th century. Anyhow, a breakthrough must have been made into the original enclosure of the monastery, for at present, as can be seen on the next picture, nothing remains of the original southern wing. During recent restorations the lay of the former buildings and walls have been preserved to the view by using differently coloured stones in the pavement, as the picture shows. In the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands the Reformation took root from the first half of the 16th century onward, spreading like a hay-fire. A century later the Roman Catholic faith had been almost stamped out, leaving little room for awe at the stone relics of the conquered creed. Church property was disowned, if not dismantled and former places of worship, if felt an obstacle to growth of the Protestant aspirations and trade were taken down without hesitation. In the case of the Court of the Augustines the new zeal resulted in a replacement of the southern wing by the diversity of buildings shown and the transformation of the remaining wings into an old men's home. The taller building on the left served as a guild-hall, the heavy oak door in the picturesque central tower giving entrance to it.
Court and chapel of the Augustines from Blaeu's Atlas, 1652
The present Court, seen to the south