Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [47]
The top floor displays the fine and applied art collection assembled by Sandra’s husband, Abraham Willet. There are Dutch ceramics, pewter and silverware as well as four finely carved ivory pieces depicting the elements, made in Germany in the eighteenth century. Among the paintings, look out for a landscape by Willem Maris (1844–1910) and a distinctly smug self-portrait of Abraham at the age of 28. The exhibits are regularly moved around, however, to make way for temporary exhibitions.
At the back of the house lie the formal gardens, a neat pattern of miniature hedges graced by the occasional stone statue, and framed by the old coach house.
The Grachtengordel | Grachtengordel south |
The Amstel and the Magere Brug
Just east of Willet-Holthuysen, Herengracht comes to an abrupt halt beside the wide and windy River Amstel, which was long the main trade route into the Dutch interior – goods arriving by barge and boat were traded for the imported materials held in Amsterdam’s many warehouses. To the left is the Blauwbrug (Blue Bridge) and the Old Jewish Quarter, whilst in the opposite direction is the Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge), the most famous and arguably the cutest of the city’s many swing bridges. Legend has it that the current bridge, which dates back to about 1670, replaced an even older and skinnier version, originally built by two sisters who lived on opposite sides of the river and were fed up with having to walk so far to see each other.
South of the bridge are the Amstel sluizen, the river’s locks. Every night, the municipal water department closes these locks to begin the process of sluicing out the canals. A huge pumping station on an island out to the east of the city then pumps fresh water from the IJsselmeer into the canal system; similar locks on the west side of the city are left open for the surplus to flow into the IJ and, from there, out to sea via the North Sea Canal. The city’s canal water is thus refreshed every three nights – though, what with three centuries of shopping trolleys, rusty bikes and general detritus, the water is only appealing as long as you’re not actually in it.
The Grachtengordel | Grachtengordel south |
Reguliersgracht and FOAM
On the north side of Prinsengracht is the small open space of the Amstelveld, popular for impromptu football games, with the squat, seventeenth-century Amstelkerk, made of plain white wood, occupying one of its corners. It’s here also that Prinsengracht intersects with Reguliersgracht, perhaps the prettiest of the three surviving radial canals that cut across the Grachtengordel – its dainty humpback bridges and green waters overlooked by charming seventeenth- and eighteenth-century canal houses.
One of the busiest attractions in this part of the city is FOAM, Keizersgracht 609 (Fotografiemuseum; Sat–Wed 10am–6pm, Thurs & Fri 10am–9pm; €7.50; www.foam.nl), which offers an inventive programme of photographic exhibitions, many of which have a local (and very modish) theme. The work of local ad agencies has provided the source materials for several exhibitions and there’s been international stuff, too – for example, the American photographer Richard Avedon was featured in 2009.
The Grachtengordel | Grachtengordel south |
The Museum Van Loon
Across the canal from FOAM, the Museum Van Loon, at Keizersgracht 672 (Wed–Mon 11am–5pm; €6; www.museumvanloon.nl), boasts the grandest canal house interior open to the public in Amsterdam. The first tenant of the property, which was built in 1672, was the artist Ferdinand Bol, who married an exceedingly wealthy widow and promptly hung up his easel for the rest of his days. The last owners were the van Loons, co-founders of the East India Company and long one of