Long walks and discoveries: Overtoom

I have just found some beautiful historical pictures of the street where I walk almost daily on my way to town - it is a beautiful, long avenue called Overtoom and its wide, classy, full of interesting houses and has a lot of history behind it. It runs parallel with famous Vondel park but I very rarely walk there, so far it was always more interesting to walk along Overtoom and just admire beautiful houses (and some truly cute little ones). I could never in a million years live on Overtoom because it must be one of the more expensive addresses in town, but love just daydreaming when I'm there.

In a present day, Overtoom is a beautiful long avenue full of stately houses that leads from centre (Leidseplein) to the new art of town (Nieuw West) - end of Overtoom is basically where the centre ends.

When I was recently changing the address, I kinds accepted it because my new place was walking distance from end of Overtoom, so although the area is completely new and modern, it was still not too far. At the end of the work, I often walk back home and it is a pleasant 30 minutes walk. 

Originally this was out-of-town area and in fact it was called "Heiligeweg" ("holy way") as it led pilgrims towards the centre and the Miracle of Amsterdam. Than you would arrive at Leidseplein and enter the city gate. Because this was area just before the town, all the smelly businesses like tanners and such were situated here. In 15th century there was a canal here, wide enough for the traffic, transport and shipping. This is when they name Overtoom came in use, as it was a wooden ramp used to pull the ships from one side to another. What was previously empty land, eventually became quite crowded not only with shoemakers, food sellers, carpenters, dairy farmers and all kinds of craftsmen but Amsterdamers themselves who would visit here on weekends to enjoy fairs and such. But because this was still area out of town, it was chosen a place for plague house - the plague house was a square building surrounded by a moat, with a courtyard intersected by a moat, so that the sick could easily be brought in by barge.

Trough the centuries this avenue has slowly completely changed the image, it became place for stately elegant houses and indeed if you look closely, some of the wealthiest people of Amsterdam used to live there. There is a still surprisingly large number of tiny houses visible along the way and they give street a completely unique charm, somehow untouched by the passing of time. A beautiful street and I always enjoy walking along there.