Amsterdam Buildings... oh Pretty!

I could spend days, weeks even, wandering around Amsterdam and taking pictures of buildings. Every building is different- round tops or square, bright colours or neutral, plain shutters or elegantly carved scrollwork above the windows and doors. Here’s some examples of all the pretty I encountered...

 

 

 

Some are historic buildings, such as the former headquarters of the Dutch East India Company...

 

Others have details above the front doors or top of the building that advertised the trade or name of the original inhabitants...

 The buildings are often quite narrow because laws dictated how wide the lots could be, but not how high or deep. The design also has some practical elements for living on the canals that run throughout the city. The first canals were dug in an attempt to handle overflow tides and they just kept digging more until the city was crisscrossed with them. Given Holland`s strong maritime tradition, it`s no surprise boats were the preferred method of getting around.  Until the 1930’s, when a lock was build to split off the canals from the North Sea, Amsterdam would regularly flood (the city is below sea level).

This means most of the front entrances to buildings are often built higher then street level. It also is the reason why most buildings have hooks on the top of them...

Attics were the best place to store precious goods away from flood waters. Each of the buildings had a pulley in the attic, which a rope was attached to, slung over the hook, and dropped down to street level to hoist things up. The only buildings that don’t have these hooks are mansions because the rich could afford to store their things in warehouses away from the flood area. Warehouses would have shutters, to prevent goods from smashing through the windows as they were pulled up.

Over time, some of the canals have been filled in and the warehouses have moved to larger waters, but the general look of the buildings has stayed the same. There is some newer construction, but most of that is now so old that it also blends in. Here's what the Tommy Hilfiger headquartres looks like, which was just around the corner from my hotel...

 

The canals themselves don`t look half bad either...

 

I only had a few days in Amsterdam and am writing this on the train, headed for the next leg of my trip. This is a cool city to explore and I would happily go back to see more...