Pageshuis (Pages' House), Hague

Adjacent to the Monastery Church (Kloosterkerk), you'll find the Pages' House (Pageshuis) situated on land that originally belonged to the medieval monastery of Vincentius, which was served by the Monastery Church.

During the time when Spain ruled over the Netherlands, the Monastery Church had different purposes. It was used as a stable for horses and as an arsenal. The choir of the church was even utilized as a place for making cannons. In 1621, a special entrance gate was constructed for the cannon foundry, and in 1625, the Pages' House was erected nearby.

Originally, the building was three bays wide, and you can still see the marks of its original width on the facade, where two carved bas-relief heads of war gods Mars and Bellona are located. In the 17th century, the building was expanded by adding one more window span to the left. Later, in the late 18th century, the Chinese room was built above the entrance.

The name "Pages' House" comes from the pages of the Prince of Orange, young men from prominent families who received training as cadets at the Delft Academy. When they were called to The Hague for their court duties, this building served as their quarters.

The Pages' House continued to accommodate the pages until 1828. In that year, King William I established the Royal Military Academy in Breda, and once the academy relocated, the Pages' House became part of the Royal Stables.

Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the building was used as the headquarters of the Dutch Red Cross. In 1912, Prince Hendrik, who served as the chairman of the Dutch Red Cross, initiated a comprehensive restoration of the building. The current entrance is a reconstruction modeled after a gate on Hartogstraat in The Hague, which also dates back to the early 17th century.

Today, the Pages' House is utilized as an office space, and it is open to the public only once a year, during the Open Monument Day.