Royal Palace

This was not built for a king. It was built by a city of merchants who had no king, and wanted everyone to know they did not need one.

In 1648 the Dutch Republic signed the peace that ended eighty years of war with Spain. That same year Amsterdam started work on a new town hall, and it was meant as a statement. The city was the richest in Europe, and it was run by men who traded grain, timber and spices.

The ground here is peat and wet sand, so the building stands on 13,659 wooden piles driven down to firmer soil. Dutch schoolchildren used to learn the number by a trick: the days of the year, with a one in front and a nine behind.

The architect, Jacob van Campen, borrowed the language of ancient Rome because Amsterdam’s rulers saw themselves as a new republic of that kind. Look at what is carved in the pediment. There is no monarch and no saint. A woman representing Amsterdam sits while the oceans bring her their goods. On the back, Atlas carries the heavens. The message is that the world revolves around this square.

Then the Republic fell. In 1808 Napoleon’s brother Louis, installed as King of Holland, decided he needed a palace and took the town hall. He stayed barely two years, and left behind one of the best collections of Empire furniture anywhere. The city was handed its building back in 1813, then offered it to the new Dutch king. It has been a palace since.