Leiden almshouses.... Loridan almshouses The Peter Loridans almshouses were built on the site of the former tavern De Vergulde Wagen (The Golden Wagon). During the Eighty Years War, Pierre Loridan fled the Spanish Inquisition from the Southern Netherlands. During a plague in 1655 (which resulted in approximately 15.000 deaths in a population of about 50.000) he lost his family and co-religionists, and decided, by means of good deeds, to found some almshouses. Shortly after making his will, he also became a victim of the plague. The executors of his will bought the above mentioned tavern where, in 1656, the almshouses were built. Via a hall one enters an inner yard, where you will notice a gallery. This is now used as a bicycle shed, but it was formerly used for drying clothes and as a meeting place, and at times, to slaughter the oxen in the autumn, which were bought by the governors and shared amongst the residents.
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