The gate behind you gave access to the Sint Joris- and Sebastiaansdoelen. That was the target range of the two civic guards in Leiden. The sandstone gate was designed in 1645 by the city architect Arent van ‘s Gravesande. The sculpture group on the gate depicts St. George slaying the dragon.

The civic guard consisted of armed citizens. They defended the city in time of war and played an important part in maintaining public order. In 1795 the civic guard lost its military function. The range then became an army barracks. The building next to the gate, the Arsenal, was part of these barracks. At present it houses departments of Leiden University.

In the Middle Ages the city authorities made this area the red-light district. A prostitute was known as a ‘haasje’ or hare. This canal, the Groenhazengracht, was named after one of them, Groen Haasje (Little Green or Young Hare).

You are standing on the Oude Varkenmarkt, where no. 1 is one of the 35 almshouses in Leiden. It is named after the founder Pieter Loridan, a 17th-century Walloon refugee.