De Duif

Welcome to The Pigeon, a historic building on the picturesque Prinsengracht, right across the Amstelveld. Designed by architect Molkenboer in 1857, it originally served as a Roman Catholic church. Today, it has a new role as an ecumenical meeting place, where people of different faiths come together. Ecumenism is about cooperation and rapprochement between different Christian denominations. For the Catholic Church, it symbolises unity. The building that now houses the church has a multifaceted history. It was once a sugar factory called 'Fortuyn', but after a devastating fire it was converted into a shelter church called 'Het Vrededuifje'. Old archive footage still shows that this church had a dome, but it was later demolished due to overdue maintenance. After this, the church was renamed 'the Pigeon'.