The Keti Koti path
2. Peperstraat
(Peperstraat, 3811 KB Amersfoort.)
The name of this street has been referenced since 1469. In the intervening years, it has also had the name ‘Pepersteeg’.
There are around 61 examples of a ‘Peperstraat’ in the Netherlands, throughout all the provinces. The streets are often named after the trade in the spice pepper. Amsterdam used to be home to a ‘Peperwerf’ and there is still a ‘Peperstraat’ where the VOC’s warehouses used to stand.
(Tekst gaat door onder foto)
‘Peperstraat’, however, is not always named after pepper itself; it can also refer to duties or taxes as you used to be able to pay your taxes using the spice. Pepper has been a trading spice since the Middle Ages. In the 16th century, the demand for pepper was one of the reasons behind the creation of the VOC.
