The Waag on the Markt is the building where cheese has been weighed and traded since 1668. On Thursday mornings during the cheese market (April to August), the weighing ceremonies still take place here — the kaasdragers (cheese carriers) run cheeses across the square on wooden barrows and the weighing master records the results in a ledger. The building now houses the Cheese and City Museum, which explains the history of Gouda cheese production and the Dutch cheese trade. The museum is small but well done, and the interior of the Waag — with its original beams and weighing equipment — is worth seeing.
De Waag (Cheese Weighing House)
17th-century weighing house, now home to the Cheese and City Museum