In the centre of Amsterdam
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Ambassade Hotel Amsterdam

From 1614 to the present

In the 19th century, revivals of classicism and the Renaissance as well as other styles dominated the cityscape. The 19th century fashion of placing the entrance at ground level (and thus removing the elevated entrances) also had a great impact on the appearance of the houses lining the canals. A raised entrance in front of a house with a nineteenth-century gable often indicates that the main part of the building is much older.

It was also in this period that large-scale buildings started to be constructed. This phenomenon continued, particularly into the first quarter of the twentieth century when there was a lot of demolition in favour of banks and offices that wanted to expand their accommodation. When this tendency continued, the relationship between where people worked and where they lived took yet another turn. The buildings on the Herengracht are now a mixture of seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth-century styles with a twentieth-century building occurring here and there.

It's also interesting to know that the earlier pavement did not differentiate between pedestrians and other road users in terms of levels; there were no elevated sidewalks like we have today. Instead, there was a difference in materials: clinkers (bricks) along the water and houses, and cobblestones for the wagons in the middle. For some years now, the streetscapes have been undergoing a process of visual simplification: bricks are being used to replace concrete tiles while broad curbs made of natural stone are replacing the bollards »Amsterdammertjes« that many loath and consider ugly but that had been installed as an anti-parking measure in the 1860s. The new streetscapes may not be entirely like they were hundreds of years ago, but a stroller walking along on a quiet Sunday morning can enjoy them almost as much as long ago. 

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Beeld vergroten
Façade of the Ambassade Hotel as seen from the Herengracht.

When the canal was first excavated, it was not meant for transport or to provide a pretty view. Old prints show very few boats, and there were no ships moored anywhere along the canals. The primary objective for creating the canals was to drain the soggy soil for construction purposes.

Even so, having the water has proven handy as well as beautiful. The canals became even more attractive when the trees planted soon thereafter grew to arch gracefully overhead and cast lovely shadows beneath. Unfortunately, they made loading and unloading cargo from boats more difficult.