The Amsterdam Canal District

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Amsterdam is often regarded as the ‘Venice of the Low Countries’ and no wonder: this metropolis has hundreds of canals, moats and other urban waterways. The most famous of them all is Amsterdam’s canal ring, a system of town canals surrounding the old city centre - so unique the whole area has been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

During the Dutch Golden Age, when Dutch culture and economy peaked after the year 1600, the canals were the life lines of this trading centre. Large quantities of merchandise were imported or exported by ship, or stored in one of the city’s many warehouses. The city’s canal ring also reflects Amsterdam’s affluence in the era, and in this district you will discover elaborately decorated merchant houses, internationally acclaimed museums and bustling markets squares. This I-Tour will reveal much more about all its historic architecture and culture. We will show you some of the most charming spots in and around Amsterdam’s canal ring while providing information about this very special area by means of audio and video recordings and photographs.

The I-Tour starts here at the National Monument on Dam Square. This majestic statue symbolises the very heart of Amsterdam – and the whole of the Netherlands. This is where, every year, the Dutch commemorate the victims of the Second World War.

Begin your I-Tour with your back to the monument and cross the street towards the Royal Palace.

You are now on Dam Square, the very spot where Amsterdam began. On this spot, around the year 1250, the people of Amsterdam built a dam across the River Amstel. Ships could sail as far as the square and then unload and trade their goods. As you can imagine, it must have been a very busy place in those days, with market stalls selling all sorts of wares: fish from the Zuiderzee, figs from Italy, spices from as far away as Africa. This square was truly the centre of Amsterdam’s trade and accordingly, it has a major part in the city’s expanding trade and growing prosperity – prosperity that led to the construction of the canal ring.

Dam Square has always been a real trading centre. And even today, the Stock Exchange is just around the corner. In former days, the central trading point was here too: the ‘waag’ or weighing-house, where all merchandise was weighed. This trading point was demolished about two hundred years ago, although many people in Amsterdam regret its disappearance. So why was the building torn down? Do the quiz via the button in the top right of the menu screen to find out.

The Royal Palace is also situated on Dam Square, but we will come to that later on this I-Tour.

If you were to have an aerial view of Amsterdam, you would immediately recognise its characteristic street pattern: a city centre surrounded by a ‘singel’, a certain type of town canal and three town canals that run parallel to each other. The canal ring around the city is clearly recognisable on the photographs. This is Amsterdam’s canal ring, a unique historic area laid out according to a structured street plan.

You have now come to Herengracht, the most inwardly of the three city canals. The canal ring was built in the Golden Age – the era in which the Netherlands and Amsterdam flourished, when the rising economic affluence around the year 1600 forced the city to expand. But the expansion had to be both good for the economy and good to look at: buildings could not be constructed any old how, but according to a well-considered street plan. Using its many waterways as transport lines for shipping and allowing plenty of room for fine houses, this expansion eventually produced the ‘Grachtengordel’, this canal ring.

The history of Amsterdam’s canal ring has some sad chapters too and one of them is the famous story of Anne Frank. During the Second World War, she went into hiding in the house on your left. At first sight, it looks like a normal ‘grachtenpand’ or canal house. But did you know that an entire second house was built behind this one? That is why it was such a good hiding place for the Frank family.

However, this annexed house also had offices on the ground floor, which meant that the people hiding there could not use one side of the house during office hours. The people who worked in the offices thought that the house only contained storage space in the rooms above, so no footsteps must be heard, whatever the cost. In fact, the people in the offices had no idea that there was an entire house next door to them because they never went into the garden and could not see the other side of the building. Nonetheless, the people hiding in the house were discovered on 4 August 1944 and arrested. To this day, nobody knows who betrayed them.

On this square, we come to the Westerkerk, the most famous church in the canal ring. Its fame stems from the fact that its distinctive tower can be seen from many spots in Amsterdam. You can climb its tower, the Westertoren, if you like. There is a wonderful view of the canal ring from up there, and you can see all the way from harbours in the North to the Rijksmuseum in the South.

Perhaps you had already noticed the Westertoren when you were still quite a distance from it? The tower is easy to recognise because of its characteristic dome with the crown on top. You don’t see many church towers like this one in Northern Europe. In fact, the Westerkerk is the only church in the Netherlands with a cross like that one on top of it. If you want to know why, do the quiz.

You can also view the inside of the Westerkerk, but if the church is closed, you will have all the more reason to visit it again. Despite its relatively plain interior compared to Catholic churches, this Protestant house of worship is certainly worth a look. The way the light strikes the interior of this freestanding church is remarkable and creates an unusual ambience. Moreover, the artist Rembrandt van Rijn, who painted the ‘Night Watch’, was buried in this church.

The water of Prinsengracht is always full of boats on sunny days, but once or twice a year it is really busy. That’s when the canals of Amsterdam are the scene of popular festivals. For instance, an annual concert is held on Prinsengracht, where you are standing now. An orchestra on a floating stage plays classical songs from the previous century and of course, the canal is packed with boats full of people who come to listen.

Once a year, there is a really, really big party on the canals: ‘Koningsdag’ or King’s Day, a national holiday. Until recently, the same day was called ‘Koninginnedag’ or Queen’s Day, but King Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother, Princess Beatrix, in 2013, and so the name was changed from Queen’s day to King’s Day. Many Dutch people come to Amsterdam specifically to celebrate this national day of celebration and the canals are chock-a-block with party-goers dressed in orange. If you want to see what King’s Day is like in the canal ring, watch the video.

You will discover an entirely different side to Amsterdam on the other side of the canal. There, just beyond the canal ring, is the ‘Jordaan’ district, a working-class area that is, in some ways, the complete opposite of the canal ring.

The ‘grachtengordel’ or canal ring was built as a luxury district for traders in the Golden Age, while the ‘Jordaan’ is a true blue-collar district. The first popular uprisings began in the ‘Jordaan’ and it is where true Amsterdam balladeers are born. In the ‘Jordaan’, the houses are generally smaller and the streets narrower. As you can see, the magnificence of the stately canals makes way for the homely, intimate ambiance of the ‘Jordaan’, partly because this district’s street plan differs from that of the canal ring: the ‘Jordaan’ has plenty of tiny alleys, enhancing its snug and friendly atmosphere.

The part of the canal ring you are walking through now is called the ‘negen straatjes’ or nine streets, named after the nine different side-streets connecting the three main canals of the canal ring. Wolvenstraat, which you are on now, is the most central of these nine side-streets.

This part of the canal ring, the ‘negen straatjes’, has its own special ambiance, and it is popular among tourists who love to spend entire mornings or afternoons wandering around the area. This trendy district, which boasts all sorts of stylish boutiques, cafés and galleries, is much quieter compared to Leidsestraat and the area around Leidseplein, which we will come to in a minute. The tiny shops that are so abundant in the ‘negen straatjes’ soon make way for large chain stores when you reach Leidsestraat.

Walking through the ‘negen straatjes’, you can clearly see how the different blocks of houses are distributed along the canals: the largest and grandest houses, where the wealthy merchants resided, line the canals while the middle classes lived in the side-streets. That explains why the houses on the side-streets are smaller and are less decorative.

If you look around you, up and down the canal, you will be able to see several Amsterdam warehouses. You will have already spotted some of these characteristic buildings on your walk around the canal ring. In bygone days, all sorts of goods would have been stored in these warehouses, such as food, wood or spices brought to Amsterdam by ship. The name of the warehouse often reveals the sort of goods stored in it or the origin of the wares: the ‘Afrika’ (Africa), the ‘Korendrager’ (granary) and the ‘Spaanse Huis’ (Spanish House).

Can you see the beams that protrude at the top of the warehouses’ gables? The merchants used them to hoist their wares up to the upper storeys. You can also recognise warehouses by their large doors, although nowadays many of the doors have been replaced by windows.

You may have noticed that many of the warehouses and other canal houses lean out over the street. Why do they lean like that? Do the quiz to find out more.