't Klooster

’t Klooster Restaurant is located in a sixteenth-century building in one of the oldest courtyards in the Netherlands, the Nederhof. On the foundation of Wijk bij Duurstede, the buildings around the Nederhof – a vroonhof (manor) – were among the few buildings within the original walls. Over time, the city grew up around the Nederhof. The Nederhof consists of a number of sixteenth-century buildings which served in the episcopal era as the home of the bishop’s chancellor and possibly also the city council of Wijk bij Duurstede. In 1528, the Nederhof was ceded to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V by the Utrecht bishop Henry of the Palatinate. The Emperor later split it up the Nederhof and sold it to private individuals. From 1738, some of the buildings were used in the wine trade and for storage. Above the passage to the Nederhof, you can still see the name of the wine dealer Tellegen & Pels.

’t Klooster Restaurant is named after a mediaeval Dominican nunnery founded in Wijk bij Duurstede in 1399. The nunnery was located beyond the Mazijk, the historic city garden at the rear of ’t Klooster Restaurant. By naming the beautiful restaurant after the old nunnery, chef Roy Schipper revived a beautiful piece of local history.