Royal Palace Amsterdam

A town hall that outgrew its job

The Royal Palace stands on the west side of Dam Square. It was built as the city hall, and you can still see that in its size. It is a wide, heavy block of pale stone, made to show that Amsterdam was one of the richest cities in the Western world.

The Dam is where the city began. A dam was built across the Amstel here in the 13th century, and the settlement took its name from it: Dam in the Amstel. Four centuries later the merchants of the Golden Age chose this spot for the building that would speak for them.

Stone on wet ground

The architect was Jacob van Campen. Work began in 1648, the year the Eighty Years' War with Spain ended, and the hall was in use by 1655. Amsterdam sits on soft, wet ground, so the whole building rests on thousands of wooden piles driven deep underneath. The figure usually given is 13,659.

In 1808 the building changed role. Louis Napoleon, brother of the French emperor and king of Holland, took the city hall as his palace. When the French left, it stayed with the Dutch state and kept the name. The king does not live here. The palace is used for state occasions and receptions.

Reading the outside

Stand in the middle of the square and look up at the front. The sculpture in the pediment was made by Artus Quellinus. It is crowded with figures, and its message is that the seas and the world's trade flow towards Amsterdam. More statues stand along the roofline. A small ship sits on the cupola as a weathervane, a quiet nod to the harbour that paid for everything.

The walls are darker and plainer than you might expect, and that is partly the point. The city wanted to look serious and solid. Walk along the side facade too and notice how few windows are decorated. The show is all in the sculpture.

Inside: the Citizens' Hall

The room to head for is the Citizens' Hall, the Burgerzaal. It is a huge marble space, built as the grand public hall of the city government. In the floor are inlaid maps of the world and the night sky, so visitors once walked across the known universe on their way to petition the city's rulers. Look down before you look up.

Then look at the walls and ceilings. The marble carving and the allegorical figures tell stories of justice, wisdom and the city's good fortune. Notice the carved reliefs around the room. They are very well made and easy to walk past while you stare at the floor.

The palace also tells you something about the city's confidence. Just beside it is the Nieuwe Kerk, where Dutch monarchs are crowned, so the square holds both the seat of the old city and the setting of the modern monarchy. The Dutch East India Company, whose trade made this wealth, ran its business from the Oost-Indisch Huis, a short walk away. And a column on the Rokin, the Mirakelkolom, goes back to a far older Amsterdam of pilgrims, long before this stone town hall was imagined.