Page 89 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Amsterdam

Nieuwe Zijde ❮❮ 87

Nieuwe Zijde

The central hall, or burgerzaal, at the Koninklijk Paleis
Koninklijk Paleis
1 construction. It was consecrated to
Our Lady and St Catherine, but
Supported by a
staggering 13,659 wooden has only ever been called the
piles, Jacob van Campen’s Nieuwe Kerk – to distinguish
Classical building occupies it from the Oude Kerk. It has
one side of Dam Square. been the setting for the
Designed as the stadhuis coronation of every Dutch
(town hall), it was monarch since the early
transformed into a 19th century (see p41).
Royal Palace in 1808 by Gilded cherub,
Begijnhof
King Louis Bonaparte. Nieuwe Kerk 4
Although it is still used A charming and
for official functions, such as the secluded courtyard of houses
wedding reception of Crown Prince surrounding a tranquil garden in
Willem-Alexander in February 2002, the centre of the city, the Begijnhof
the present royal family live was established in the 14th century
elsewhere. It is now open to the as a sanctuary for the Beguines lay
public (see p40). Catholic sisterhood (see pp26–7).
Dam Square
2
Amsterdam’s main square is
named after the dam on the River
Amstel around which the city grew.
By the 17th century, it had become
the focus of the Dutch trading
empire (see pp40–41).
Nieuwe Kerk
3
Wealthy merchant banker
Willem Eggert donated his orchard
as a site for this Gothic church, as
well as a large sum of money for its Begijnhof

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