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for the past, present and future) which together comprise the Homomonument. The world’s first memorial to persecuted gays and lesbians, commemorating all those who died at the hands of the Nazis, it was designed by Karin Daan and recalls the pink triangles the Germans made Dutch homosexuals sew onto their clothes during World War II. The monument has become a focus for the city’s gay community and the site of ceremonies and wreath-laying throughout the year, most notably on Queen’s Day (April 30), Coming-Out Day (Sept 5) and World AIDS Day (Dec 1). The monument’s inscription, by the Dutch writer Jacob Israel de Haan, translates as “Such an infinite desire for friendship”.

The Homomonument

The French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) once lodged at Westermarkt 6, a handsome building with an attractive neck gable and fancy fanlight. Apparently happy that the Dutch were indifferent to his musings – and that therefore he wasn’t going to be persecuted – he wrote, “Everybody except me is in business and so absorbed by profit-making that I could spend my entire life here without being noticed by a soul”. However, this declaration may itself have been subterfuge: it’s quite possible that Descartes was spying on the Dutch for the Habsburg King Philip II of Spain, a possibility explored in detail in A.C. Grayling’s book entitled Descartes: The Life and Times of a Genius. In the event, Descartes spent twenty years in the Netherlands before accepting an invitation from Queen Christina to go to Stockholm in 1649. It turned out to be a poor choice; no sooner had he got there, he caught pneumonia and died.

The Grachtengordel | Grachtengordel west |

The Huis Bartolotti

The Huis Bartolotti is at Herengracht 170–172 (no public access), with a facade of red brick and stone dotted with urns, gargoyles and cherubs. The house is an excellent illustration of the Dutch Renaissance style of Hendrick de Keyser with a director of the West India Company, a certain Willem van den Heuvel, footing the bill. Van den Heuvel inherited a fortune from his Italian uncle and changed his name in his honour to Bartolotti – hence the name of the house. Huis Bartolotti is much more ornate than its more typical neighbour, at Herengracht 168, a classic canal house designed by Philip Vingboons (1607–78), arguably the most talented architect involved in the creation of the Grachtengordel. The house was built for Michael de Pauw, a leading light in the East India Company in the 1630s, its fetching sandstone facade a suitably grand preamble to an interior that sports a riot of flamboyant stuccowork, verdant Italianate wall paintings and a splendid spiral staircase.

The Grachtengordel | Grachtengordel west | The Huis Bartolotti |

Hendrick de Keyser

Born in Utrecht, the son of a carpenter, Hendrick de Keyser (1565–1621) moved to Amsterdam in 1591. Initially employed as an apprentice sculptor, de Keyser soon ventured out on his own, speedily establishing himself as one of the city’s most sought-after sculptor-architects. In 1595 he was appointed the city’s official stonemason, becoming city architect too in 1612. His municipal commissions included three churches – the Zuiderkerk, the Noorderkerk and the Westerkerk – and the upper storeys of the Munttoren. His domestic designs were, however, more playful – or at least ornate – and it was here that he pioneered what is often called the Amsterdam Renaissance style, in which Italianate decorative details – tympani, octagonal turrets, pilasters, pinnacles and arcades – were imposed on traditional Dutch design. The usual media were red brick and sandstone trimmings – as in the Huis Bartolotti.

The Grachtengordel | Grachtengordel west |

The Woonbootmuseum and Felix Meritis building

The Woonbootmuseum (Houseboat Museum; March–Oct Tues–Sun 11am–5pm; Nov–Feb Fri–Sun same hours; €3.50; www.houseboatmuseum.nl), opposite Prinsengracht 296, is an old Dutch houseboat of 1914 that doubles as a tourist attraction with a handful of explanatory plaques about life on the water. Some three thousand barges and houseboats