Royal Palace in Amsterdam

I’m spending a few days in Amsterdam for the first leg of my trip. After taking a tour of the city on a canal boat, we went to the Koninklijk Paleis or Royal Palace. There are so many interesting museums and historic buildings in the city and we have so little time, so we found ourselves in Dam Square and basically said ‘look, a pretty building, let’s go in it’....

 

I need to point out that it is a lovely place and I enjoyed my visit, but the palace has a number of challenges that makes it difficult to tour. I only have limited photos because they don’t allow flash, so I could only take pictures in brightly lit areas.

Firstly, it’s still actively used by the royal family, so all of the displays and barriers have to be removed easily. Almost all of the information is conveyed by audio tour and there is very little signage along the visitor route, which is a bit confusing. It also means that in rooms with historic interiors there are tv’s, phones, and other modern features. I’m not entirely sure why all the wire tires were needed on this light fixture, but I’m sure it was useful at some point...

 

 

Secondly, the building has been used for a number of purposes over the years. From the mid 17^th century to 1808 it was Amsterdam’s town hall. The most spectacular part of the building from that era is the Burgerzaal or Citizen’s Hall.  It is nothing short of amazing- the ceiling is covered in carvings and paintings...

 

 

And the floor is decorated with three maps...

The map of North and South America is interesting because at that point in time only some of the territory was know, so Canada is rather small...

 

The hall was accessible by members of the public from Dam Square until the building was annexed by King Louis Bonaparte when France ruled the country in the early 19^th century. Most of the furniture on display in the rooms is from this era, although often in different rooms then it would have been used in at the time. So, it means most rooms have three different purposes: what they were used for as a public building, its use in the early 19^th century, and its current use. Take, for example, the Insurance Chamber...

 

The audio guide explains that the room was originally used to issue insurance for trips for expeditions. When the French were living in the palace, the room was used as part of the dining hall. And presently, it’s used as a bedroom with the furniture set originally used in Louis Bonaparte’s private quarters. Confused yet? So were some of the visitors. The lady behind me asked ‘why do all these rooms have beds?' (although I have to say, what a stunning bed!)

Finally, the guide map is the most useless map I have ever used. And other then the cues in the audio guide, it’s the only way you know what direction to travel in because the visitor route isn’t marked....

So in short, it’s a lovely place to visit but by a museum perspective it will kind of drive you nuts. But beautiful carvings and lots of interesting details...