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Amsterdam · Mysteries & legends

Severed heads, hidden churches and weeping women

Amsterdam looks like a city without mysteries, orderly and full of light. But behind its façades there are stone heads with a criminal reputation, dungeons under a bridge, a beguine who refused to be buried in the church, an entire church hidden in an attic and rooms where executed criminals were dissected. We always separate what the records say from what tradition tells.

  • 6 stops
  • 3 km
  • 2 h 15 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Painting of the Torensluis with the vanished Jan Roodenpoort Tower

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 House with the HeadsSix heads on a façade, and the maid who, legend says, beheaded six burglars.
  2. 2 Torensluis BridgeA bridge as wide as a square, hiding the dungeons of a vanished tower.
  3. 3 BegijnhofA beguine who asked to be buried in the street, and a hidden chapel that keeps the memory of a miracle.
  4. 4 Our Lord in the AtticAn entire Catholic church hidden under the roof of a merchant's house.
  5. 5 Schreierstoren, the Weeping TowerDid sailors' wives weep here, or is it all a five-hundred-year-old misunderstanding?
  6. 6 The WaagA city gate turned weigh house and theatre for dissecting corpses.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Severed heads, hidden churches and weeping women

Legends with an address

Every story is tied to a façade, a bridge or a tower that you can see with your own eyes.

Record and tradition

We clearly separate what is proven from what is told, so you can enjoy the mystery without mistaking it for history.

The hidden city

Secret churches, cells beneath the pavement and a grave in the street that almost everyone walks past.

Keep exploring

More routes in Amsterdam

Back to Amsterdam
HistoryAmsterdam, from Dam to Golden Age EssentialsEssential Amsterdam: from Anne Frank to The Night Watch