Waag, Amsterdam

Waag is the substantial stone building anchoring Nieuwmarkt, and its story begins not as a market hall but as a defended entrance to Amsterdam. The building dates from the 15th century and originally formed part of the city gate and walls. The gate was called Sint Antoniespoort; its surviving fabric is a rare witness to that medieval boundary.

In 1617, the former gate was adapted into a public weigh house, where goods were measured. That use explains the name Waag, while the upper floors became home to the guilds of smiths, painters, masons and surgeons. Look at the separate entrances around the building: guild emblems remain above them, and the surgeons’ doorway carries the words “Theatrum Anatomicum.”

This is the setting represented in Rembrandt’s 1632 painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, commissioned by the surgeons’ guild for its guildhall. The building later accommodated a museum, a fire station and an anatomical theatre, among other uses.

Its current form includes a domed hall and an octagonal tower added in 1690–1691. Waag is Amsterdam’s oldest surviving non-religious building, and it remains a national monument.