This house has a national monument status, which is why it is one of the very few houses not torn down in the 1970's, when the underground was built. In the 1960's/70's there was still a plan to create a broad highway right through the centre on this location. This meant the Pintohuis had to be torn down. However, resistance from the Nieuwmarkt neighbourhood prevented this. The Pintohuis has thus become a symbol of the 'Nieuwmarkt riots', surronding the building of the new metro line in the 1970's.
The house is named after the rich Jewish merchant family De Pinto, who owned the house a long time.
The ceiling in the reading room is very nicely decorated.
The house is open to the public, and is run by volunteers. There are sometimes events/exhibitions, and there is a reading table with (Dutch) newspapers and magazines, and you can have a coffee or tea there.
Pintohuis
