I don't know quite how it has happened, but a new red light district seems to have grown up around the Ronde Lutherse Kerk. I feel a bit sorry for everyone who has invested fortunes in fancy canal-side pads only to have Natasha from Russia opening up for business round the corner. The church is now owned by the Renaissance Hotel on the other side of Kattengat and used as a conference and banqueting chamber - possibly a good source of clients for Natasha and her friends?

Kattegat 2

The church itself was designed by Adriaen Dortsmun and opened in 1685, was the first reformed church in the Netherlands to have a circular ground plan and two upper galleries -- the aim was to allow all the churchgoers a good view of the altar. In 1822 the church was destroyed by fire caused by careless plumbers and was later rebuilt. The church is now owned by the Renaissance Hotel on the other side of Kattengat and used as a conference and banqueting chamber. It is linked to the hotel by a tunnel. In February 1993 the building was hit by a second fire and has since undergone extensive restoration work again.