Listen | The Waegh
The imposing building you see before you is the Waegh. Today it is a grand café but it used to be the city's economic hub. Foodstuffs such as fish, butter, grain and cheese were traded here.
Trading took place under the canopy and inside. The windows were simply open then, making the scales a kind of covered market square where everyone walked in and out. Everything traded also had to be weighed. For this, the Monnickendammers used large scales. You can still see these with your own eyes. If you look in through the windows, you can still see the balance arm of the old scale.
But the Waegh had many more functions. It was also the headquarters of the fire brigade, militia and served as a guesthouse. Poor inhabitants of the city, who had little to eat, could get a plate of porridge at the Waegh. Troet was called this mixture of oatmeal and groats. A special kind of goodness, to which the people of Monnickendam owe their nickname 'Troeters'.
Walk back across the bridge and continue the route across the water onto the Gooische kaai.
