Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (OLHOS; en, Our Lord in the Attic) is a 17th-century

canal house A canal house ( nl, grachtenpand) is a (usually old) house overlooking a canal. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special beam or pulley in ...

house church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see ...

, and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

in the city center of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The Catholic Church was built on the top three floors of the canal house during the 1660s. It is an important example of a "schuilkerk", or "

clandestine church A clandestine church ( nl, schuilkerk), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition t ...

" in which Catholics and other religious dissenters from the seventeenth century Dutch Reformed Church, unable to worship in public, held services. The church has been open as a museum since 28 April 1888, and has 85,000 visitors annually.

Canal house

The

on the 14th century

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

Oudezijds Voorburgwal The Oudezijds Voorburgwal, often abbreviated to OZ Voorburgwal, is a street and canal in De Wallen in the center of Amsterdam. The OZ Voorburgwal runs from the Grimburgwal in the south to the Zeedijk in the north, where it changes into the Oud ...

, currently on number 40, was built in 1630. Between 1661 and 1663 the top three floors of the house were changed into a

. The building was renovated in the 18th and 19th century.

Museum

After the Church of St Nicholas was opened, the house church was no longer in use as a church. On 28 April 1888 it opened its doors for the public as a museum, making it the second oldest museum in Amsterdam, after

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...

. The museum was previously named Museum Amstelkring and is now called Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (English: Museum Our Lord in the Attic). Annually, about 85,000 people visit the museum. The museum contains the front room, the between room, the hall, the church, the Lady chapel, the confessional, the Jaap Leeuwenberg hall, and the 17th-century kitchen. The property has been listed as rijksmonument 6107.

Collection

File:La Caridad de San Nicolas.jpg, ''The charity of Saint Nicholas'' (1640) by Cornelis de Vos File:Jan van Kessel (I) - Holy Family -1660s.jpg, ''Holy Family'' (c. 1665) by

Jan van Kessel the Elder Jan van Kessel the Elder or Jan van Kessel (I) (baptized 5 April 1626, Antwerp – 17 April 1679, Antwerp) was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp in the mid 17th century. A versatile artist he practised in many genres including studies of i ...

File:Verborgen preekstoel.jpg, The pulpit

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ons' Lieve Heer Op Solder Churches in Amsterdam Museums in Amsterdam Rijksmonuments in Amsterdam Museums established in 1888 1888 establishments in the Netherlands Houses completed in 1630 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1630 Religious organizations established in the 1660s 1663 establishments in the Dutch Republic Religious museums in the Netherlands History museums in the Netherlands Historic house museums in the Netherlands 1630 establishments in the Dutch Republic