Felix Meritis: Event venue in Grachtengordel, Amsterdam

★★★★★ 4.5

Felix Meritis is a cultural house in an 18th-century neoclassical building at Keizersgracht 324 in Amsterdam. Go for talks and performances that question the status quo, or just for dinner at Felix Café. The house calls itself a safe public meeting place for contemporary, many-voiced stories, and its programmes set out to question the status quo. Science, art and enterprise have been its domains since the start, with digital culture added since. Events run in rooms such as the Zuilenzaal, the Teekenzaal and the Shaffyzaal. The house has been part of Amerpodia since the merger with Rode Hoed and De Nieuwe Liefde. It reopened after a four-year renovation by MATH Architecten, with interiors by i29. Felix Café serves dinner from chef Sander Louwerens, and you do not need a ticket for a show to eat there. The society Felix Meritis, Latin for happy through merit, was founded in 1777 by wealthy citizens to practise the arts and sciences. Its building, by Jacob Otten Husly, opened on 31 October 1788 and its oval concert hall was the main music room of the city until about 1830, with Clara Schumann among those who played there. A fire destroyed part of the building in 1932. The Dutch Communist Party had its headquarters here from 1947 to 1981, and from 1969 one room became the theatre of Ramses Shaffy, a base for the Dutch avant-garde. Felix Café opens from Wednesday to Saturday at 16:00 for drinks and small bites, with dinner from 17:30. On the first Friday of the month it runs Felix Afterwork from 16:00 to 18:00. If you come by car, the nearest garages include Parkeergarage Kalverstraat and Q-Park Europarking.