Originating as a boggy walkway along the Amstel River when Amsterdam was an ever-sinking fishing village, the Nes is now a refreshingly quiet corridor filled with theaters. At the end of the 14th century, the Nes began evolving into a long strip of monasteries and convents before the Altercation of 1578 (or Protestant takeover) saw their eventual decline as Amsterdam became more concerned with commercial pursuits and as it marched toward its Golden Age. The Nes's spiritual life -- which had largely made way for tobacco storage and processing -- had a slight renaissance when the philosopher Spinoza (1623-77) moved here to escape the derision he was receiving from his own Jewish community for having fused Jewish mysticism with Descartian logic, concluding that body and soul were part of the same essence. Although the still-existing Frascati theater (Nos. 59-65) began life as a coffeehouse in the 18th century, it was not until the 1880s that the Nes began to bloom with cafés filled with dance, song, and operetta performances; stars often represented the less uptight segment of the Jewish community. Adjacent to the southern end of the Nes is Gebed Zonder End, the "Prayer Without End" alleyway, which got its name because it was said you could hear prayers from behind the walls of the convents which used to line this alley.