Old Fish Market and Sint Jacobshofje

The Old Fish Market is located at Sint Jacobshofje. The site was founded at the time by the powerful association of seafarers, the Sint Jacobsgilde. The part to the left of the market square is covered with a gallery, where the fish used to be cleaned. The small, white houses were inhabited by the poor from the city. The auction house is in the middle and in the space in front of it, formed by benches in a circle, the fish was auctioned. In 1580, the Sint Jacobshuis was taken over by the city, because the guild itself no longer had the means to maintain it. In 1582, the same house was used as a storage place for the city's artillery (arsenal). Stocks of guns, rifles and ammunition were stored here. Properties of the guild, consisting of lands, were sold to the public in 1599 and the proceeds were used for the maintenance of the Sint Jacobshuis and for the benefit of the people who then - it seems - lived there for free.

In 1658, the Sint Jacobshuis served as a “city ammunition house” and beacons and sea barrels were stored there. After that, at least until 1678, the four houses of the house, which since around 1700 had been called Sint Jacobshof, were regularly inhabited by old women or widows. Until 1739 the residents enjoyed free peat from the city, but in that year that advantage was denied to the poor women and only the favor of free living remained. In 1989/1990, the Vismarkt and Sint Jacobshofje were neatly restored.

Definitely worth a detour to discover this site.