Amsterdam Red Light District

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Red Light District is not home to Amsterdam’s most cherished museums. For the most part, the exhibits here focus on predictable topics, considering the location: drugs and sex. Cannabis College, a small resource and information center on the uses and consumption of cannabis, is a worthwhile stop, if only to chat with the smart and enthusiastic staff. A break from the debauchery and decadence can be found at Museum Amstelkring, a former clandestine Catholic church that provides a fascinating look into the history of religious persecution in Amsterdam following the Reformation.

Museum Amstelkring “Ons’ Lieve Heer Op Solder”. After the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the Netherlands became an unfriendly place for Catholics. Although Amsterdam maintained a reputation as a relatively tolerant place, many Catholic churches were closed or converted for Protestant use. Catholics could not worship openly, and those who still wanted to congregate were forced to do so in private. The continued persecution led Jan Hartmann, a wealthy Dutch merchant, to convert several canal houses into a secret church (hence, “Our Dear Lord in the Attic”). Completed in 1663 and a museum since 1888, the splendid chapel is housed in the attics of three separate canal houses and includes a fantastic 18th-century Baroque altar with a painting of the Baptism of Christ by famed artist Jacob de Wit. The large antique organ, designed especially for this secret church’s unique situation in 1794, is equally impressive. The church makes clever use of its clandestine space, with an ornate pulpit stored under the altar and galleries suspended from the roof by cast-iron rods. On the way up and down, small exhibitions and period rooms re-create life during the Dutch Reformation, embellished by the museum’s collection of Dutch painting and antique silver. The church is still active, holding mass six times per year and performing marriages on request; check the website for information on either. (Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40, at Heintje Hoekssteeg. ☎624 6604; www.opsolder.nl. Open M-Sa 10am-5pm, Su and holidays 1-5pm. €7, students €5, ages 5-18 €1, under 5 free.)

Cannabis College. If weed piques your interest, your best bet is this staggeringly informative non-academic think tank. For innocuously biased information on the uses of medicinal marijuana, the war on drugs, or the creative applications of industrial hemp (like a wall or a snowboard), it’s ounce-for-ounce the equal of the Hash Museum (below), just more potent—and free. The staff of volunteers is unbelievably friendly, knowledgeable, and eager to answer any questions. If you think you’re enough of an expert and want to spread your reefer know-how, don’t be afraid to ask about lending a hand. See an artfully designed and adoringly cared-for cannabis garden in the basement for a donation of €2.50, which also entitles you to a demonstration of a vaporizer—bring your own pot, and the staff recommends that you eat something beforehand. (Oudezijds Achterburgwal 124. ☎423 4420; www.cannabiscollege.com. Open daily 11am-7pm. Free.)

Hash Marijuana Hemp Museum. With the free Cannabis College nearby, it’s difficult to justify the €5.70 entrance fee to this shrine to ganja. Most of the exhibits here, on topics such as the American war on drugs, pipes of the world, celebrity drug smugglers, or hemp rope making, seem extremely out of date and under-researched, but if you want to ogle a microscopic view of female cannabis flowers or a 1967 issue of Parade with the cover story, “Why They Smoke Pot,” stop by. The museum’s most well-developed attraction is its grow room, which does little more than prove that watching grass grow is indeed as exciting as it sounds. The next-door grow shop, however, is almost worth a visit. (Oudezijds Achterburgwal 148. ☎623 5961; www.sensiseeds.com. Open daily 10am-10pm. €5.70, under 13 free.)