The Pipe
The official name of the neighborhood was YY, because in the 19th century Amsterdam was divided into 50 neighborhoods designated by letters (A-Z, followed by AA-ZZ). The common name soon became De Pijp. The origin of this name is not entirely certain. The oldest explanation comes from the Amsterdamsche Courant (1892): "The best time to see where De Pijp gets its name is between eight and nine in the morning. If you stand at the Hemony, Van Wou, Van der Helst, and FerdinandBol streets, which are the actual funnels for the Pijp, you will see a stream of people rushing through those streets to the old city; they are actually long, wide pipes, living 'clouds' blowing out to that part of the city where the offices are and business is done."Later, other explanations were suggested, such as that the name is derived from the word pijp, meaning a long, straight polder ditch.
De Pijp is a neighborhood in Amsterdam and part of the Zuid district. In this lively neighborhood with its narrow streets, you will find numerous restaurants serving Middle Eastern cuisine, as well as old-fashioned Dutch cafés with terraces. At the Albert Cuyp Market, stallholders sell Dutch specialties such as herring and stroopwafels, but the selection is not limited to local products. Today, people from all over the world live side by side in this old working-class neighborhood.