{"id":37291,"date":"2026-10-01T13:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/makelaarinamsterdam.nl\/?p=37291"},"modified":"2026-10-22T17:18:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T17:18:34","slug":"spui-square-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/makelaarinamsterdam.nl\/en\/spui-square-amsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spui in Amsterdam: books, brown caf\u00e9s and a square in the middle of the city"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spui is a square in the middle of Amsterdam’s old city centre, between the Singel and the Rokin, where books, students and caf\u00e9s have come together for centuries. You will find Athenaeum Boekhandel, The American Book Center, a book market every Friday, Caf\u00e9 Hoppe from 1670 and the gateway to the Begijnhof. It is one of the few open squares in the old centre, which makes it a place where you naturally stop for a moment.<\/p>\n

Why is the Spui called the Spui?<\/h2>\n

Where you now walk over the paving bricks, there used to be water. Until 1425, the Spui and the Grimburgwal formed the southern edge of the city. There was a sluice here that let the water drain out of the city, which in Dutch is called “spuien”, and that kept the salt water out. That is where the name comes from.<\/p>\n

In 1882 the water was filled in and the Spui got the shape it has today: a wide, elongated square with trees that opens onto the Kalverstraat and the Rokin. If you come from the Singel, you can see how the city suddenly gets some space here. In a city centre full of narrow streets and canals, that is rare.<\/p>\n

Why is the Spui the intellectual heart of Amsterdam?<\/h2>\n

Around the Spui, a lot revolves around books, study and debate. You can see that in the shops and in the buildings around the square.<\/p>\n

Athenaeum Boekhandel & Nieuwscentrum<\/strong> (Spui 14-16) is the best-known bookshop on the square. Johan Polak and Rob van Gennep opened it in September 1966, and it is still one of the largest independent bookshops in the city. In the Nieuwscentrum you will find magazines from all over the world, including titles you will not see anywhere else in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\"Athenaeum<\/figure>\n

The American Book Center<\/strong> (Spui 12) has been here since 1972. It is an independent family business with three floors of English-language books, from new novels to reference works. For expats and students, it is a regular stop.<\/p>\n

On Fridays the book market<\/strong> is on the square, from 10:00 to 18:00. Around 25 traders sell second-hand and antiquarian books there. If you come without a list, just to browse, you will often find something you were not looking for.<\/p>\n

The University of Amsterdam<\/strong> is part of the story too. The Maagdenhuis at Spui 21 is the university’s administrative building and was occupied by students in 1969, one of the best-known student protests in the country. For many years, the University Library (Singel 425) was on the corner with the Singel; it moved to the Vendelstraat in the summer of 2025. Students and lecturers still walk in and out here all day long.<\/p>\n

What is Het Lieverdje?<\/h2>\n

In the middle of the square stands a small bronze boy: Het Lieverdje<\/strong> (“the little darling”), made by the Amsterdam sculptor Carel Kneulman. It has been here since 1960 and was a gift from a cigarette manufacturer. The name comes from a story by Henri Knap, a writer for the newspaper Het Parool, about an Amsterdam street kid with a heart of gold.<\/p>\n

In the 1960s the statue became the meeting point of Provo, the youth movement that challenged the authorities in playful ways. “Anti-smoking magician” Robert Jasper Grootveld held weekly happenings there, often to the annoyance of the police. In March 2024 a truck accidentally knocked the statue over. It has been restored and is back in its place.<\/p>\n

Where can you eat and drink on the Spui?<\/h2>\n

For such a small square, there are a lot of good places to eat and drink. These are the addresses you should know:<\/p>\n