Verwerijstraat

Before house numbers existed, which in the Netherlands only came in during the French period around 1800, every house of any standing had a name. It appeared on a carved stone above the door or on a hanging sign, and it was literally your address. You lived in the Golden Lion, and that was how people found you.

At the start of this street, where the traffic waits, one of those signs is still hanging. That house is called Het Misverstand, meaning The Misunderstanding, and the sign shows exactly what the name refers to. Two men are carrying a wine barrel together, but the barrel is so wide that neither of them can see past it to the other. So they are both walking in opposite directions. If you have ever tried to carry a sofa up a staircase with someone else, you will recognise that problem immediately.

Further along, the past gets bigger. At number 28 stands a former warehouse of the Dutch East India Company, with the warehouse De Vlijt beside it at number 26. After Amsterdam, Middelburg held the most important chamber of the VOC, and whatever came off the ships was stored in buildings like these, scattered across the old town. Above the doors you can still see the hoisting beams that swung the bales inside.

At the end of the street the Oostkerk comes into view, raised on its plateau. Follow the Verwerijstraat out onto the Oostkerkplein and carry on to the entrance steps, between the two hardstone obelisks. That is where we stop.