Amsterdam is a city of many faces, one of which is a "Miracle City", thanks to its yearly celebration of a medieval miracle that is said to have occurred on the same streets where modern-day tourists stroll. Continuously since the 19th century, the Dutch Catholic community has observed the anniversary of the miracle every March in the center of Amsterdam with a "Silent Procession" (Stille Omgang).

Its route takes in the various landmarks associated with the "Miracle of the Host", otherwise known as the "Miracle of Amsterdam".

What was this miracle? On March 15, 1345, it is said that a Catholic priest administered the last rites to a moribund man, upon which the man vomited up the "host", or communion wafer; to dispose of the mess, it was thrown into the fire, host and all. But the host remained intact amid the ashes, and not only that: twice it was transported to the parish church, and each time the host was miraculously discovered back at the man's home on the Kalverstraat. Medieval devotees once commemorated the miracle, but the practice was abandoned over time until, in 1881, one man discovered a document that outlined the medieval miracle procession route; with just one friend to accompany him, the man re-traced the route for the first time in centuries. But this personal initiative soon turned into a popular movement as many others joined in the procession. Thus the Silent Procession (or Silent Walk) has become a yearly event, in which both Christians and the curious follow the miracle route from the wee hours of Saturday into Sunday.

The route itself is a picturesque stroll on some of the most historic inner-city streets: from Het Spui, a square renowned for its architecture and its bookshops, the procession travels northward on Kalverstraat, where the unscathed host was discovered, and past the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) via Nieuwendijk; eastward onto Prins Hendrikkade (opposite Amsterdam Central Station); southward on Warmoesstraat and Nes, past the Oude Kerk (Old Church), then finally back to Het Spui. Het Spui is also the address of one of the entrances to the Begijnhof, the Amsterdam béguinage whose Roman Catholic chapel constitutes another stop in the procession, and quite possibly the most scenically secluded enclave in all of Amsterdam.

Read more about the event on the web site of the Society for the Silent Procession (Dutch only), or take a self-paced tour of the points on its route:

• Begijnhof
  See also the Begijnhof in Pictures.
• Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)
• Oude Kerk (Old Church)