Camaretten

location: 

small square between Leeuwenhoek's house and the Markt

 

The Camaretten or Cameretten (spelled both ways) is a small open square over the Voldergracht where it meets the Wijnhaven and Hippolytusbuurt grachten at the Warmoesbrug right in front of Leeuwenhoek's house.

The view from Leeuwenhoek's front door out onto the Camaretten.

To get to the Stadhuis, Leeuwenhoek would walk over the bridge, across the square past the fish market and meat hall on his left, where he would turn right and be at the back of the Stadhuis.

The Vismarkt is on the left. In his letter of January 14, 1678 to Robert Hooke, Leeuwenhoek wrote, "Between the sea fish market and my house is only a canal." The ancient fish market across the gracht from Leeuwenhoek's house specialized in sea fish, as opposed to the inland fresh-water fish market on the Oude Delft gracht.

The Vleeshal is on the right. This stone building to replace the repeatedly burned wooden halls for the meat market was finished in 1650, just before Leeuwenhoek moved to the neighborhood. In 1871, it was renamed the Koornbeurs and is today a national monument.

The Oude Kerk is in the background. Just over the Warmoesbrug, the little bridge, Leeuwenhoek's house, long gone, was the second one in from the corner.

Camaretten in 1900: the view from Leeuwenhoek's house