History of the Pesthuis
A pest house, plague house, pesthouse or fever shed was a type of building used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox or typhus. Often used for forcible quarantine, many towns and cities had one or more pesthouses accompanied by a cemetery or a waste pond nearby for disposal of the dead.
Most plague houses in the Netherlands and Flanders were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. After the last plague epidemics in Europe at the end of the 17th century, the plague houses lost their function.
In 1990, Chief Government Architect Kees Rijnboutt chose the Leiden architect Fons Verheijen as the designer for the new Naturalis museum, of which the Pesthuis became part. From its opening on April 7, 1998 until September 2016, the Pesthuis served as the entrance to Naturalis, to which it was connected by a footbridge. In addition to ticket sales and a museum shop, the Pesthuis housed the auditorium and the museum café. and provided space for small temporary exhibitions, also during the renovation of Naturalis (2016-2019). Among other things, the T-rex 'Trix' found in 2013 was temporarily exhibited from September 10, 2016 to June 2017 as part of the T. Rex in Town exhibition.
Registration for the sale of the entire Pesthuis complex started in January 2019.Candidates had to meet strict conditions.[In October 2019, it was announced that the national monument had been sold by the Central Government Real Estate Agency to an Amsterdam investment group, which advocates a 'mixed redevelopment' into a public building with 'meeting' as the central theme. According to the plans, a food hall, apartments, catering and art and culture will be located in the 17th-century Pesthuis. The agreement between the investment group and the municipality was signed in June 2020.
In 2022 it was announced that the plans would not be realized before 2025. In the meantime, the complex serves as a temporary conference center.
Getting to the Pesthuis
You can reach the Pesthuis from Leiden city center following the read line depicted below. The line runs from Leiden Central Train Station to the side entrance of the Pesthuis. This side entrance gives direct access to the conference room Zuid 1 and the Poster room Zuid 2.
Layout of the Pesthuis
Ingang Zuid: Main Participant entrance
Zuid 1: Conference Room
Zuid 2: Poster Room and breakout Area
Oost 1: Lunch Room and breakout Area
Terras: Breakout Area, when weather is good
Please visit the Pesthuis site for more details (in Dutch)
