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Singelgracht at Night
Photos of Amsterdam and its
Historic Buildings, Houses, Canals, and Street Scenes
– Introduction –
About Amsterdam ...
Amsterdam, the "Venice of the North", is located on the Amstel river − from which it derived its original name, "Amstelredam"
("Amstel-river-dam") − and consists of some 90 islands created by a host of concentric and radial canals with a combined length of
some 68 miles, and connected to each other by about 200 bridges. Of the 20,000, or so, structures within the core city (click here for
a map,
)
some 6,990 (most of them built between AD1350 and 1850) are currently protected under various federal and municipal regulations passed since
February 1990. Those same 6,990 structures would, if laid along both sides of an avenue, create an 18 mile long thoroughfare
of unbelievable majesty and beauty!
Unlike most capitals, Amsterdam is not a city of palaces and grandiose
public buildings; it is a city characterized by single family houses which make up 90%+ of its structural inventory. Even
the, so called, Royal Palace started its life in 1665 as a City Hall (Stadthuis). It only became the "Royal Palace" in 1808
(during the French occupation of Holland) by decree of "King" Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Emperor Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's
youngest brother). Amsterdam is an unpretentious, highly livable city of and for "the people", not for royalty.
For instance, right behind and literally within spitting distance, so to speak, of the Royal Palace, you'll find a down to earth, prosaic,
Albert Heijn
grocery store {owned by AHold ("Albert Heijn Holding Corporation"), a Dutch corporate giant which owns the BI-LO, Bruno's, Giant, Peapod,
Stop & Shop, and Tops chains in the US and Canada from which it derives about $100 Billion in gross sales}
on the first floor of the PTT (Post, Telegraaf & Telegram) building! Unlike the Royal Palace in The Hague or Buckingham Palace in London
which have been surrounded by fences and gates since time immemorial, you are quite welcome to sit on the (long) stoop leading to the formal
entrances to the palace to enjoy a coke and a sandwich bought from a nearby street vendor.
Also, and most importantly, it is not a city that grew, shall we say, "organically" but one which was created as a carefully
"planned community" right from its very birth in the early 13th century!
In a very real sense, living in Amsterdam is like living in a museum filled to the brim with architectural and other
artifacts of immense historical value and beauty. Despite its antique appearance, however, you'll find Amsterdam to be an
extremely up-to-date, sophisticated, and cosmopolitan city filled with people a majority of which are friendly, helpful, and tri-lingual;
i.e. fully capable of understanding and speaking fluent English as well as German and/or French! (In the Netherlands,
English, French, German, and "Hollands" are an obligatory part of the standard -5 year- high school curriculum! Also, since
"Nederland"; (about the size of the state of Maryland) is closely surrounded by English, French, and German speaking nations, a mere twitch on the dial
of any AM/FM radio is likely to produce a cheery voice announcing: "This is the BBC Home Service and here is the news" -or-
"Ici, ici, Radio Paris" -or- "Hier ist die WestDeutscher Nachrichtendienst (news bureau) ins Köln" (Cologne) -or -, of course,
"Hier is de AVRO (de Algemeen Vereenigde Radio Omroep -) met het laatste nieuws van de dag" (with the latest news of the day).
About the tour ...
On the following pages you will be treated to a slide-show presentation containing some 225 screen-sized yet quick
loading pictures of the interiors and exteriors of many houses and public buildings, and of canal and street scenes. (Btw, we
haven't counted them yet, but we believe that at a monitor display setting of 1024x768 pixels, at least 60 of the 224 pics are --may we
say-- "wallpaper" sized. At a setting of 800x600, most all of them are!) They were culled (not pirated) from a huge and
incredibly content-rich (Dutch language) website of the Amsterdam "Bureau Of Monument Care" (BMZ - "Bureau Voor Monumenten Zorg"), a
municipal government agency which -as its name implies- oversees the maintenance and care of most all of those structures and has done so
since its inception in 1953. While the Dutch language site is for all practical purposes finished, the English version, which has
been "under construction" now for more than seven years, is still far from done. Thus far it has only a small amount of text and
no more than 36, or so, pictures of some 28 historic houses, 2 public buildings ("de Waag" and the Royal Palace), and a half dozen canal
scenes. In all, less than 0.5% of what the Dutch site has to offer! To see for yourself, go to their main
site at http://www.bmz.amsterdam.nl/adam/index.html and then to the Enlish site by clicking on the British flag
icon. We suggest you start with the English version and return to the Dutch one only after you have familiarized yourself somewhat
with the territory.
We created this tour for several reasons:
One
– Because we want to bring the beauty of Historic Amsterdam to the world's ±800 million English speakers who don't understand a
word of Dutch, and, thus, are unable fully to enjoy the main BMZ site!
Two – Because we want to give our visitors (you) an opportunity to appreciate what we
are missing in our 21st Century urban environments where it comes to the interior and exterior beauty of our modern" homes and office
buildings. For instance, the picture on the left below shows an example of a conference room belonging to the
"Nederlandse Handels Maatschappij", a multi-billion dollar, Dutch corporate giant engaged in international trade. Look at those wall
paintings, the woodwork and the ceiling!
The one on the right is an example of a marvelous garden right behind 672 Keizersgracht.
Three– because the fact that ALL of the interiors shown are part of residences and office
buildings that are still in full use today despite being anywhere from 75 to well over 300 years old, demonstrates how readily their style can be adapted
to and fully integrated with the tastes and needs of the 21st Century.
OKAY FOLKS ...
Here we go ...
Click on the picture below and you'll find yourself
on our sequential tour with all of its 224 picture, informative text
and interesting links.
An Amsterdam cheese store
Ahhh, no wonder an Amsterdammer is often called a "Kaaskop"
(a "Cheesehead")
Or, if you want to take a look at all of the big thumbnail pictures first ...
go to the...
1st Leg of the Tour
-and then to the-
2nd Leg of the Tour
Enjoy!...
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