[Illustration: THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND TERRORS, ROTTERDAM.]
This building, which is situated at the corner of the Groote Market and
the Hang, is one of the oldest houses in Rotterdam, besides being one of
the most interesting from a historical point of view. There is a tradition
which states that when the city was invaded and pillaged by the Spaniards,
who in accordance with their usual custom, proceeded to put the
inhabitants to the sword, without regard to age or sex, a large number of
the leading citizens took refuge within the building, and having secured
and barricaded the entrance, they killed a kid and allowed the blood to
flow beneath the door into the street; seeing which the soldiery concluded
that those inside had already been massacred, and without troubling to
force an entry passed on, leaving them unmolested. Here the unhappy
citizens remained for three days without food, by which time the danger
had passed away, and they were enabled to effect their escape. It is from
this incident that the building takes its name. The house is built in a
species of irregular bond with bricks of varying lengths, the strings,
labels, copings, etc., being in stone. The upper portion remains in pretty
much the same condition as it existed in the 16th century, but is much
disfigured by modern paint, which has been laid over the whole of the
exterior with no sparing hand. Within the last few years the present shop
windows facing the Groote Market have been put up and various slight
alterations made to the lower part of the building to suit the
requirements of the present occupiers. The drawing has been prepared from
detail sketches made on the spot.--_W.E. Pinkerton, in Building News._
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