This cover came from France and depicts 2 stamps. The stamp on the left is part of a set issued in 2016 celebrating the Netherlands capital, Amsterdam. It shows a picture of
Le béguinage. A
beguinage (from the French béguinage) is an architectural complex which was housing beguines. They were mainly built in Flanders and the Netherlands, but there are few in North-East France and North-West Germany. A beguinage usually included an inner court, houses facing this garden and a church, or a chapel. There were often walls surrounding the entire complex, separating it from the rest of the town and one or two gates to get in. Some would also include a convent or an infirmary. Beguinages were built around the XIII century and generally abandoned in the XIX-XX century. They are nowadays almost always UNESCO sites (inscribed in 1998). Their maintenance and look is protected and conserved as pieces of art. And their houses are often considered trendy areas where artists live. Amsterdam beguinage is an architectural jewel. It was originally surrounded not only by walls, but by the canals too. The entrance used to be a bridge, but nowadays there’s a more handy gate to give access to the inner garden and the church. This beguinage has an interesting history. In 1578, when Amsterdam turned Calvinist, practicing any other religion was forbidden. But since its houses were actually private properties, the beguinage had a special status of freedom. Its real churchwas officially closed down, but in 1671 two of the houses were reshaped into a chapel. It perfectly worked as a well hidden underground church thanks to the fact that all those buildings had no windows towards the city but only to the inner courtyard. .
