Royal Palace
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam, the Koninklijk Paleis or Paleis op de Dam, began life as something more civic than royal: it was commissioned for a new stadhuis, because a previous city hall burned in 1652. The project was opened on 29 July 1655 by mayor Cornelis de Graeff, and the new building was completed in 1656—raised on 13,659 wooden piles to steady it on Amsterdam’s wet ground. Architecturally, it belongs to the Dutch Baroque tradition and was designed by Jacob van Campen as the main architect, with construction led after 1648. Its status later shifted dramatically. During the Batavian Republic, the public floors became the city’s first museum under Louis Bonaparte, and when Napoleon made him king, the building served as a royal palace. After Napoleon’s fall, it became the palace of the Dutch Royal House, and today it remains one of three Dutch palaces placed at the monarch’s disposal by Act of Parliament. …
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