The Passage

The Passage has been part of The Hague since 1885, when a group of ambitious entrepreneurs decided the city deserved something truly grand. Among them was Petrus Josephus de Sonnaville, a prominent local figure who also helped create the famous Kurhaus in Scheveningen. Their vision resulted in the oldest shopping arcade in the Netherlands, and walking through it today, you can still feel what all the fuss was about.

Look at the glass roof above you, catching the light and spreading it evenly across the tiled floor. The arched walkways, the richly decorated facades, the sense of being somewhere that takes itself seriously but never feels cold. This was designed to impress, and it still does.

But the Passage had a quieter story running alongside its polished exterior. In the first half of the 20th century, it became a discreet meeting place for gay men. Subtle glances exchanged while pretending to browse, a quiet understanding, and then a careful departure together. By the 1930s, a handful of nearby cafés had begun welcoming gay visitors too, small but meaningful steps toward visibility in a time that offered very little.

Today it is all shopping and architecture, which is honestly not a bad trade for a place that was once partly famous for its strategic window-shopping.