Holland by Night

The Fish and Fleshmarket near the Bavo both date from the beginning of the seventeenth century. They were a means for the city council to control the quality of the meat sold. 
The fleshmarket is the result of a contest among architects. It was the most expensive building, but the result still strikes the eye. The butchers that were to take shop there probably had to pay the high cost of the building. For a shop in the old building they paid only about 6 guilders, but in the new one they had to pay 30 guilders.